The Vampire Prince by Lissie (online e book reading .TXT) 📖

Chapter 1
Six years ago

Twelve year old twin girls Elara and Cleo Montford run shrieking from their house, long dark blonde hair flying out behind them in streams. Their giggles reach all the way down the street, assaulting ears of the young and the old as their feet kick up dust as they both dash along the pavement. Always physically weaker than her sister, Elara starts to lag behind, her weak heart pounding fiercely in her own ears. Cleo realises and turns at once, sliding back to where her sister stands, bent over at the waist, panting. Cleo stands and watches silently, knowing that Elara fights back the tears. She is so much mentally stronger than her counterpart, but in every other way, lesser. Cleo is the beautiful twelve year old, the athletic one. Elara was born with a heart defect, and so cannot compete in sports. Instead she competes in poetry writing contests and sings. She is also beautiful, but the girls’ parents do not ever see her for who she is. Cleo is the one always there with her, there for her delicate sister. And then there is Alexander, the girls’ older brother, their good looking nineteen year old brother, who loves them and would move mountains and rivers to help them. And then there was Elliott, Elara’s best friend, who stuck by her side and sneered at the sneerers, helping her back up when she fell on the ground. And there was him.
Elara sensed his presence before she slowly lifted her head and dared to meet his black gaze from across the street. He was simply standing, staring at her, his arms crossed over his chest. His black hair was thick and tousled, curling slightly over his ears. All this detail she could make out from her position, doubled over on the grey tarmac. Cleo felt her twin stiffen and turned to look at the stranger. It was their twelfth birthday, the thirteenth of August, 2004.

He came again and again, always on the twins’ birthdays. Their thirteenth party at a swimming pool, their fourteenth at a movie theater, their fifteenth at ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ private showing on Broadway, their sixteenth at a booked out night club chaperoned by their parents and highly paid body guards, their seventeenth on a horse riding trek in Atlanta, and now their eighteenth. He’s not here yet, but he will be.

Elara was laughing with Elliott as they walked casually down the school corridor, arm in arm.
“Elle! Wait for me!”
Elara stopped and turned round to see her sister sprinting towards them, a look of hearty concentration on her face. She was taller than Elara was now, her skin a healthier tan colour and her muscles toned and stronger. Yet Elara waited for her now. She smiled at her as she came closer, until finally she paced alongside the two best friends.
“Hey, is Alexander coming to pick us up today?” Cleo asked breathlessly, grinning at Elliott.
Elara shrugged, glancing at Elliott, watching the frown appear on his usually smilingly open face.
“I think so. He usually comes to get us for our birthday” she said, nudging him gently in the ribs.
Elliott lightly elbowed her back, trying to smile at her.
“Sorry, Elliott” she murmured, patting his shoulder. “You know we love you, but he always does this for us and we hardly see him ever anymore as it is.”
Elliott nodded and accepted it. Cleo blinked her blue eyes at him, but as usual, he didn’t notice her. She sighed to herself and returned to seeing so clearly how Elliott Turner gazed at her sister with love that she didn’t want his way. The three of them walked outside into the bright white sunlight, rebounding off the pavement to hit them square in the eyes. Immediately, Elara turned her face into Elliott’s chest, shielding her sensitive brown eyes from the natural light. The sun’s rays seared her irises right through her eyelids, but Elliott’s strong arm wrapped around the back of her neck, holding her there in place until she heard running feet and pulled away to throw herself into her brother’s arms. Alexander stroked her hair with light, careful hands and shushed her in careful tones. He extricated her from him and held her at arm’s length, examining her. Then he grinned, that familiar white toothed grin.
“Hey, little sisters” he said, reaching out with one arm and drawing Cleo in, too.
They both kissed him, one on either cheek and ruffled his light brown hair.
“We’ve missed you, big brother” Cleo said for them both, smiling once again.
Alexander scowled slightly.
“Have the ‘rents been leaving baby Elara in the dust again?” he demanded, his eyebrows coming together.
Cleo nodded, glancing sideways at their sister, the youngest in question. She had been born three and a half minutes after Cleo, who had taken most of the sustenance in the womb. As a result, Elara was sicker and weaker. Paler.
Alexander patted Elara’s head and smiled tightly at Elliott.
“Hey, kid” he said, nodding to him.
Elliott grunted, folding his arms. The attention was forever being stolen from him when the beloved, famed big brother was there. Alexander wound an arm around either girl’s waist and began to lead them off to his silver and black Lamborghini.
Elara felt him there first, always quicker off the mental mark than Cleo. But she wasn’t far behind.
Keeping up with their brother, both girls scanned the school parking lot, searching for their mysterious annual visitor. There! Elara saw him, dressed in his perpetual black, appearing as youthful and handsome as he ever had before. Behind Alexander’s back, she reached out for Cleo’s hand and linked their fingers together tightly. The young man’s black eyes met Elara’s, as they did year after year for the past six. She couldn’t look away, and she wanted to, badly. She hated the feeling of being trapped, and that was how he made her feel. Cleo squeezed her hand.
“Elle!” she hissed sharply, digging her nails into her sister’s wrist.
Elara shook her head and breathed out shakily. Then she screamed. He was right in front of her. Alexander jumped at the sound of her scream and stared at the youth standing before them, mere inches away. His eyes were as inky black as his hair, and they were cold and gave no view into his soul. Did he even have one? This odd, worldly seeming teenager who never aged and always watched them from afar. But never this close.
“What do you want?” Cleo asked, her voice quiet and restrained, her free hand clenched into a tight fist.
He looked down at it before returning his cold, clear gaze to her face.
“I want one of you for my bride. I cannot rule alone, can I? It’s not allowed” he replied, his voice blank and resonating within Elara’s mind.
She stepped out from where Alexander had shoved her behind his body and stood quietly in front of the stranger. He looked back at her, not saying any more.
“We have seen you here ever since we were twelve. Who are you and what the heck do you want with my sister and me?” Elara demanded softly, looking up at him to his height of 6 feet.
He smiled icily at her, his smile as bleak as his dark undertones. He shrugged.
“I just told you. I know you saw me. You were meant to, otherwise you would not have seen my face. My name is Jayce Silveron. I’m leaving now” he murmured.
Elara extended a hand, but he twisted in front of them and vanished into nothingness. Cleo crept up to her twin and peered over her shoulder at the now empty space that the stranger had just occupied.
“He was weird, wasn’t he?” she said, trying to laugh and make light out of the dark.
Elara turned back to face her brother and her closest friend, turning away from her sister, her confidante and her rival. She said not a word as they walked together in a group over to Alexander’s expensive, flashy car. He let her in first, and she stared out the window on the way to the beach, this year’s birthday party destination. Cleo continuously attempted to draw her into a conversation, but she wouldn’t be drawn. Elara had completely withdrawn into her shell, and they all could see she wasn’t coming out for a while.
Elliott held her hand.

Chapter 2
Elara sat at the edge of the sand dune, staring into the battling wind and down at the blue sea. She rested her chin on her folded arms atop her knees. The brisk wind was making her shiver, though the sun still beat down on her head and shoulders. The sand next to her shifted suddenly and she turned slightly to see Cleo dropping down beside her. She gave her a brief small smile before turning to face the water again. Cleo tapped her arm gently.
“Hey, dude. What you up to?” she asked, though it was obvious.
“Thinking and staring out to sea, sister” Elara replied quietly, her voice dull.
Cleo sighed and shook her head.
“Don’t keep thinking about that nutter who talked to us today. He’s not worth any of your thoughts or concern” she murmured seriously.
Elara turned back to look at her sister again.
“There was something about him though, Cleo. He was so different. I want to see him again” she said firmly, her words stout and unyielding.
Cleo was surprised to hear such determination in the other twin’s voice. Elara was never assertive and she didn’t like confrontation, but she was now stating her actual feelings and what she wanted. Cleo was usually the one who did that, who spoke like that. As the strong one, she always got what she wanted, while Elara sat back and watched with a small, knowing smile on her face. Like she knew she was special and she’d be whisked away somewhere wonderful when the time finally came…
Elara felt Cleo probing into her mind and hurriedly pushed her away, keeping her at a mental arm’s length.
“Don’t” she said quietly, her brown eyes focused direct on her sister.
Cleo shrugged and turned away to stare at the ocean, just as she’d seen Elara doing.
“What aren’t you telling me?” she demanded softly, still not looking at Elara.
Elara smiled to herself, hearing and understanding the gravity and desire for clandestine information in her twin’s tone. She shook her head and closed her eyes.
“Do you want me to call Alexander?” Cleo threatened.
Elara’s eyes flew open and she slowly turned her head to glower at Cleo, who was smirking back at her with no regret visible in her straight forward gaze.
“You’d actually do it, wouldn’t you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Cleo nodded, poised to get up and sprint away up the sands, too fast and able bodied for her younger twin to catch her. Elara finally sighed and nodded wearily.
“I have dreams” she said softly, shutting her eyes against the sun again.
Cleo watched her uncertainly.
“Dreams?” she repeated.
“Yes” Elara confirmed. “Dreams of a tall, dark castle in a far off place. The sky never turns blue and the stars play all night and in the perpetual day, too. The king and queen are beautiful and they have four children who are just as lovely as they are. Sister, one of the sons is Jayce. He has a younger brother named Talor and two younger sisters named Lacey and Kimba. He is going to be their next king, but he can’t be until he marries.”
She