Darkness clouded her mind. It choked out the light of day; the clarity of thought; everything. All that remained to her were the memories. Flickering images like a broken movie playing in her head while she slept in peaceful slumber.
"You wrecked my foyer."
"You wrecked my face, yeah?"
One of the first civilized conversations she had ever shared with the blonde human. His smile was enchanting, even if his lip had been split from her heel connecting with his face. The look his intoxicated golden eyes gave her as the once enemies engaged in social activities such as drinking and eating whatever was left in the fridge that wasn't a pack of blood.
"Get moi out of this prison at once!"
"I don't know...I kind of like you in there. Ya'know..not being able to bite my neck and all..."
That awful moment where she had been abducted by psychotics thinking they could summon devils via vampire blood. Why did it have to be him who had been her rescuer? To have seen her in the sheer nightgown those crazies had placed her in as if she were just some doll to dress and undress whenever. But even in her most vulnerable state during that encounter, the collar around her neck keeping her from activating any of her abilities, he had given her that Prince Charming smile. Oh! How it ruined her heart.
"Is it so wrong...to hate being alone?"
"It is when you've never been alone to begin with. I'm here with you, Nas."
Her first kiss with the blonde human. His lips tasted like wood; he had been chewing on a drawing pencil earlier, trying to capture her likeness on paper. But she didn't mind. All she could hear was the flutter of a heart in her ears; all she could feel was his body heat hot against her cold, dead flesh. She had imagined he would reject her. Call her 'neck nibbler' as he had thousands of times before. But yet his lips pressed harder against hers, inviting her further. She was sure she had blushed in that moment; if it was physically possible.
"What are you doing...? Why are you kneeling...?"
"I'm trying to propose, yeah? Stop ruining it."
Together they stood on the surface of the lake just behind the Romanian estate. He held her chilled hand with his warm, calloused fingers while his left hand dug around in the front pocket of his jacket. With that stupid grin she had learned to love he pulled out the velvet box that held a golden ring and a single diamond cut into the shape of a blooming rose. She hadn't been familiar with customs like this, but she had gotten the gist of things. He was asking her to spend her eternal life with him and only him. To wake up every morning to him smiling at her; his gentle kisses on her cheek and forehead each night before they went to bed. Not once in her life had she ever felt like this. She felt like the one thing she wanted to be most of all.
She felt human.
The darkness began to swirl, tightening its grasp on her petite frame. Like the curious legs of a spider the darkness crawled over her, cloaking her in the damp shadows. She felt heavy as the memories finally came to an abrupt end. Darkness was peeling away now; like someone was tugging aside curtains on a window. The last thing she remembered was hearing his voice. His rough, heavy voice whispering in her ear.
"I love you, Nas." + + + +
Sahara had sauntered down the creaking stairs to the basement for the tenth time that afternoon. Descending and rising again had become a ritual of hers the last several weeks. She would check once in the morning, once after lunch and again at night. All to keep tabs on a single coffin that sat motionless amongst the rubble of the manors basement. Walls that were once covered from stone floor to ceiling in ancient books and various medicinal jars were now cracked and crumbling in heaps. The floor itself was almost impossible to walk on without tripping over a hunk of uprooted floor. The basement was probably the worst of the manor; it looked as if an earth quake had struck hundreds of years ago and no one simply noticed.
Again climbing over rocks, picking her way carefully around fallen shelves and through a fallen archway, Sahara blinked her crimson eyes as she came into the room that used to be Nasuko's piano room. Instead of the glass piano Greyson had purchased for Nasuko, there was only a wooden table sitting at a slight slant since one of the legs were rotting away. Upon the table was another completely wooden object; a coffin with a glittering pink, white and blue seal keeping the lid shut tight. The seal had been placed by the Shadow woman, in an attempt to keep her other half from being taken away in the middle of the night in this unfamiliar world. A few weeks alone here had revealed many things to Sahara whether she wanted to know it or not.
One: This was not the home she or Nasuko knew. This manor, though it was in fact Nasuko's Romanian estate, hadn't been lived in for generations and was in a terrible state of disrepair. Not to mention a horde of demonic spiders had taken up residence in the gardens which ate anyone who came close to the manor. Sahara dispelled the creatures quickly, knowing she wouldn't be able to leave the area until Nasuko came back around.
Two: This wasn't even the world she and Nasuko were familiar with. In this world, humans and other races had gained much insight to space travel and journeyed half way across the galaxy in a matter of seconds on a daily basis. That being said, lead her to her third and most painful revelation.
Gilgamesh and Greyson Hawke did not exist here. Perhaps at one point they did. Perhaps they didn't. There was no record of them that she could discover and she wouldn't admit it, but it broke her heart. No Gilgamesh to wake her up in the middle of the night, whispering dirty words in her ear before going to the kitchen to bake a random cake. No Greyson to taunt and tease or to make her silver haired opposite happy. What sort of torture was this..?
Sahara flicked back ebony hair from her shoulder and leaned over the coffin where her sleeping other half rested. The spell placed on the box was seconds away from dissolving apparently. That only meant Nasuko was waking up finally. Taking a slow step back, Sahara mentally prepared what she would tell the Mutt. That the white bitch Alyss had sent them to a different world. That this was not their home...that Greyson didn't exist. She swallowed hard, unsure how to break the news to Nasuko. She would be devastated, just as Sahara had been when she found out Gilgamesh was no where to be found.
Her mind snapped back suddenly when the table beneath the coffin finally collapsed on itself. The box containing Nasuko slipped off the surface and clattered with a bang onto the stone floor. The seal shattered with the sound of broken glass; the coffin immediately began to fall apart in a spray of splinters and nails. When the dust cleared Nasuko was on the floor, laying on her back and staring up into the cobweb infested ceiling. Sahara wondered if she could see the tiny spiders that came to investigate the source of the disturbance or not; since Nasuko was almost half blind thanks to Alyss.
"Hey. You awake or should I get some water to dump on you?" Sahara sighed, rubbing her temples with her index fingers.
"Butt-slut....Moi 'ates waking up to ze sound of yer voice." Nasuko coughed and began to sit up. She was wearing a silk, white slip. Alyss had been very rude in her abduction plans. The hatred filled little girl had kidnapped Sahara and Nasuko in the middle of the night; leaving both girls in their pajamas. Sahara had at least found more suitable clothes in an abandoned cabin in the woods that surrounded the manor. It was just a pair of skinny jeans and a few sizes too small black t-shirt with the words 'Sexy Diva' written across her bust in red glitter.
"Be thankful that you woke up at all, idiot." Sahara replied with a roll of her red eyes. Kicking aside some debris with her black high heels, Sahara reached over and hoisted Nasuko up by her elbow. The mutt flailed a bit before getting her bearings.
Nasuko, her dim blueish purple eyes looking over the room, frowned. "Where are we?"
"I'm not sure you want to know."
"I'm very sure I want to know." Nasuko glanced over at Sahara. "Tell moi."
"...Romania. Your estate. Currently in the ruins of your piano room...I suppose." Sahara shrugged, a little unsure how to go about this. Nasuko just looked perplexed. "Let me explain, you simpleton."
+ + + +
Hours ticked away as Sahara tried to explain their situation to Nasuko. Together they sat perched on the roof of the manor, staring up at the velvet midnight blue sky that harbored thousands of twinkling stars. Nasuko in particular was staring at the shape of the crescent moon. Her eyes were red as were her cheeks. She had only just stopped crying over the loss of Greyson. "Oh Grey-kun..." She whimpered to the moon.
Sahara stared into the darkness of the thick forest below. The estate in this world, like their home world, was heavily guarded by woods that even the brave city folk wouldn't travel through. Werewolves claimed territory over the forest in their world; they were constantly arguing with Nasuko and threatening to kill her. But in this world, Sahara hadn't found signs of the werewolf pack. Maybe they moved on when the demon spiders moved in. Either way, she didn't mind. Less to worry about.
"...Is zere any t'ing we can do?" Nasuko asked hesitantly. She already knew the answer and her heart was sinking fast. Sahara didn't reply. Dark eyes lifted back to the sky above, waiting for a shooting star so she could wish upon it. "Greyson..."
"...Someone's coming up the path." Sahara interrupted as she stood; her red eyes still glaring at the woods.
"Let zem come. Maybe zey will kill us." The mutt whimpered, hugging her legs to her chest. She still hadn't found a change of clothes.
