Blood+ Fan Fiction ❯ The Blue Blood ❯ Love Over Blood ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter 1

Saya slept peacefully in her spacious room, under the canopies of her bed, wrapped in large comforters to shield her from the frosty air that filled the chateau despite the presence of the flickering flames in the fireplace across the room. She dreamed peacefully until she heard a melodious sound. The voice reached her ear and gently lulled her from her sleep. Her eyes slowly opened, protesting greatly but she could not refuse the voice. It called to something deep within her, it ushered her to follow it. She sat up, almost in a trance like state, her eyes still only half open. She got up from her bed and her feet touched the cold marble floor but she did not feel the iciness. Her nightgown was not thick enough to insulate her from the cold, but she did not shiver. She could not feel anything but a rising desire to find the source of the sound.

The sound began changing notes, its airy tone made it seem angelic. It beckoned her to follow, she could not resist, she had to obey. Saya maneuvered around all the toys that were scattered about her floor without looking down. She slowly walked down the hallway and descended the grand staircase. She unlocked the front door and stepped out into the frosty winter air. Saya did not feel the gust of wind whip against her face; she continued her gradual pace in pursuit of the celestial voice. The song it sang was sad, she could tell. The notes carried the weight of all the misery and burdens of the world; it struck the very core of her existence.

Saya followed the path down to courtyard closed off by a tall wall. The full moon illuminated the tower that lay within the confines of the fence. “Saya.” She heard, but did not comprehend. When she failed to respond her name was repeated, shouted this time. Her reply was silence and this time the sound of frantic footsteps rushing toward her followed. She looked at the gate to the courtyard. It was locked. Her name was being called once more, the urgency was obvious. The singing had also intensified; a growing crescendo in the song filled the night air. She placed one hand on the lock and immediately a strong hand gripped her shoulder. Saya gasped and the singing suddenly ceased.

The image of the lock before her, faded away. But the hand stayed on her shoulder, and someone continued calling her name, but now it was a softer, cooing sound.

“Saya,” she recognized this voice, it was her father's, “Saya it is time to wake up.”

Her eyelids flickered open. She saw Joel standing over her bed, a warm, inviting smile on his face.

“It's already so late in the morning, but I decided to let you sleep because of your little midnight adventure that Amshel told me about.”

Saya looked about the room as she tried to slow her breathing; she was still in shock.

“Did you have a bad dream, dear?” Saya looked at Joel with fear in her eyes, but before she could answer a servant was at the door.

“Sir, Mr. Amshel would like a word with you.” The servant girl bowed her head in respect and Joel stood upright.

“Tell him I shall be there momentarily.” She nodded and left, Joel turned back to Saya and said lovingly, “We'll talk about your dream later, go and have some breakfast.”

Saya nodded hesitantly in response as Joel left the room. Another servant came into the room to help Saya dress. She looked at herself in the mirror. Long black hair, burgundy eyes. She wondered how she would look when she was older. Her tiny frame, ivory skin, pink dress, and matching bow that was tied in her hair gave her the appearance of a fragile porcelain doll.

 

Saya finished her breakfast and proceeded into the gardens behind the house to play amongst the roses. She had always been drawn to roses and them to her. It seemed that whenever she played in the garden, more roses seemed to grow. The plots were filled with them. Pink could be seen everywhere.

She sat on the path next to a bed of roses and broke one off of a bush. Saya pruned the leaves and thorns from off the stem. She pricked her thumb with the last thorn; it broke the skin and she started to bleed. She stared at her finger for a moment; she squeezed her thumb and the blood formed a complete drop on her finger.

Suddenly, she heard it again; the mellifluous sound that had beckoned her out of her bedroom the night before. This time it was different though. The previous voice has been very high pitched and airy. This new one, it was slightly lower, but they sang the same song. She did not know the language, but she could understand the words.

“I am the voice that calls your name. I am searching for you.”

The song took a different turn than expected. The words became biting, and the voice was bitter.

“Nothing remains. Only blood and sadness prevail.”

The sound of the song chilled Saya's to the very core of her soul. She shivered instinctively but continued to listen. The song was reaching a crescendo.

“My heart bleeds for you…”

From the grove of trees beyond the meadow that surrounded her house, Saya beheld a figure cloaked in black. The person was walking slowly towards her, head down; covered by the hood of the cape they wore. The singing began to intensify and it was coming to an end. The voice sang the notes without words. The figure neared Saya and she tried to get up but she could not move, she was frozen where she sat; the drop of blood ran down her thumb and fell. It stained the stone beneath it a deep red.

The figure approached her and gave her merely a glance, but the moment to them seemed to be an eternity as several things happened at once.

In that brief moment, the song ended.

“I am the voice of love that cannot live. Yet it does not die. Never!”

Saya saw that the figure was a very young woman. A lightly tanned woman with amber wisps of hair that framed her face. Her lips were blood red, but what puzzled Saya was that her lips were not moving when the song's last words were uttered. But she was certain that it had been this woman's voice that sang the song in her head. Saya instinctively knew.

What were most striking to Saya about this woman were her icy, sapphire blue eyes. When their gazes met, Saya looked into them, glowing azure jewels the hit something, something in her very being. She could not explain the feeling, but she could not help feeling empty when the woman blinked away Saya's gaze and proceeded quite briskly towards the front of the estate.

After the woman left her, Saya sat upon the path, awestruck and unsure of what to do. She heard her nursemaid calling her but she could not bring herself to respond. The maid took her hand and brought her to her feet, lecturing to her about something. Saya didn't care, something within her changed at the moment when their eyes met and she just couldn't explain away the feeling she had to seek the woman out.

Saya stared down at the rose that she still held. Her finger had stopped bleeding but there was a deeper aching pain that she felt deep within her chest as she beheld the rose. It had changed into the most brilliant shade of cerulean. Saya looked around her to see that all the roses closest to the path where the woman had walked had turned blue.

 

Joel had just seen his last appointment out the front door and returned to his office. He sat down again in his lofty chair and began working on some papers when there was a soft rapping at the door. He looked up from his work as the butler opened the door and announced that there was a guest waiting for him.

“But I do not have any other appointments for today.” Joel thought about it and reaffirmed with his written schedule laid out on his desk that indeed there were no other guests for the day.

“She says that it is of the utmost importance, Sir.”

“She? Well that is quite…” he trailed off and then began to rise from his seat. “Yes well I suppose I shouldn't keep her--”

As he looked up he saw the girl push the large cherry wood door open and saunter into the room.

She wore a midnight black cloak and as she looked up to meet Joel's eyes he was stunned by the brilliant shade of blue that her eyes were. He recognized them, those eyes haunted his conscience. Their intensity bore into his soul and threatened to consume his entire being if he did not break their gaze. But there were minor differences; these eyes were slightly less vivacious. Their light had been diminished somewhat, and they seemed sadder, more aged but the girl could not have been more than eighteen years old, if not younger.

She removed her hood and it revealed mid-length, wavy, tawny locks that perfectly complimented her face. Her lips began to move and Joel noticed them as well. They were a deep red, but not from any rouge.

“Joel Goldschmidt?” He hadn't heard her the first time, but the annoyed tone in her voice broke his trance.

“Ah- yes. How may I help you?” She repositioned herself slightly and now the sunlight streaming from the large bay window behind his desk shined on her. The light hit her necklace and made the diamond-shaped blue jewel sparkle. The gem was surrounded by obsidian and hung from her neck from a sleek black ribbon. The rock captivated his attention for a moment, but then the girl spoke again.

“I am here concerning the girl in your care.”

“My daughter.”

She smirked and looked at him with an expression of pity. “Mr. Goldschmidt, do you really expect me to believe such a bold faced lie?” She raised her eyebrow questioningly and Joel was at a loss for words to describe the sudden chilling fear he got from her answer but he could not let anyone discover the truth.

“Mr. Goldschmidt, the girl in this house is-”

“My daughter.”

“Mr. Goldschmidt!” she yelled. Her frame may have been small and unassuming but her voice boomed with the authority that her presence carried. She spoke swiftly, the words dripping with intimidating bite. “I will not be patronized. The girl. Saya. She is not your daughter and do not presume to attempt to deceive me again. It will not work. I already know who she is.” She paused, her breathing never altered, but Joel could tell that she was fuming. “And what she is.” She emphasized `what' and Joel's eyes widened in disbelief.

“How could you possibly know?” The young woman smirked and stepped forward. In the blink of an eye she had crossed the room and was right in front of Joel. Her hands were behind her back and she portrayed the picture of innocence but her eyes frightened Joel to the core.

She narrowed her eyes and condescendingly spoke in a whisper, “Because I am one of them.” Joel stumbled backwards into his chair and the girl slowly advanced towards him.

“Now it is in your best interest to cede the child to me, lest she bring about your demise and the destruction of all you care very deeply for.”

The very thought made Joel defy the mysteriously, daunting girl before him. “I cannot do that.”

He could tell the woman was beginning to become frustrated with him and the entire situation. He suddenly began to fear for his life; his rational side proved this to be an unfounded fear, but he felt it nevertheless.

“And why not?”

“Because she is my daughter.”

The girl's blue eyes now glowed in the shade from the sunlight and the intense, icy blue blinded him of all else and his thoughts were concentrated on them as she spoke. Her anger was let loose and her yelling began to sound like snarls ripping through her throat that were about to tear at Joel's own.

“How can you say that?! That girl has no father! No family but me! I am the only kin to her beside her twin! Her mother was my sister and I have the most claim to her. Now you, a human, have the audacity to deny me what is left of my family? Her life belongs to me. I had to duty to take care of her and now I shall finally carry it out.”

Her composed mask had broken. She was no longer just striking in appearance, but now she was terrifyingly beautiful. A dangerous being that none could stop gazing at in awe of her. Her breathing now slowed and she tried to calm herself.

“The girl was supposed to be destroyed with her mother. She was not to be born it was my duty to carry out. Now that I have learned of her existence, I must erase my mistake and fulfill the responsibility that was originally mine.”

“Then you…are a queen as well? You are…Saya's aunt? The sister of her mother?” The light in the girls eyes faded and they returned to their less intense shade of blue. She breathed in deeply and exhaled.

“Yes. I am Chiropteran Queen Aina, sister of Deyanira, aunt to your Saya. Now, Mr. Goldschmidt. The child.” She gestured towards the door, as if he had so suddenly changed his mind and expected to him to lead her to Saya.

“I still cannot allow you to harm her.”

The frustration returned in her voice, but she seemed to be able to control her expression and demeanor.

“Why not?”

“Because I am still her father.” He saw the questioningly look on Aina's face and explained himself. “Although we are not related biologically, Saya and I share a bond stronger than blood.” He could see the scoff on her face and the mocking tone of her voice.

“Mr. Goldschmidt, I have lived for a long time and seen many things. And in my vast experience, blood has made a lot of people do a lot of deeds that they would not have committed otherwise. Blood has driven people to kill. I have witnessed its effects firsthand. There is nothing stronger than a blood bond.”

“Well then perhaps you have not lived long enough, and have just been experiencing all the wrong things.” For the first time since they met, Joel had caught Aina off guard. Her eyes widened, never before had she thought about it that way, but her thinking was too deep rooted to believe this without proof.

“Then Mr. Goldschmidt, I implore you to show me. Prove to me the existence of a bond stronger than blood.”

This time he did gesture towards the door. “After you.”

The two stepped into the hallway and down the grand staircase. Aina did not so much as bat an eye at the luxurious manner of the interior of his mansion. He noticed that her eye was not attracted to the many precious metal trinkets or hanging tapestries or beautiful wall portraits. She did not look at any of the décor that anyone else would have been fascinated by. She simply walked with the utmost elegance towards a room that she seemed to already know the location of. But once they reached the entrance of the playroom she still allowed him to enter first.

Joel opened the door but Aina tried to remain hidden beyond the frame; out of sight. Saya and her nursemaid looked up to see the master of the estate and Saya's face brightened upon seeing her father. She jumped from her toys and rushed towards him.

The joyful cry of “Father!” burst from her mouth as she ran to hug him by the legs. He received her with an exasperated gasp at the forceful impact she made on his legs as she held fast to them. He patted her hair as she closed her eyes tight and smiled.

Aina's eyes widened at the sight of the warm embrace; it surprised her for two reasons.

Saya opened her eyes and caught a glimpse of her aunt standing beyond the door, looking at her with and awed expression. Saya instinctively clung tighter to Joel and her face was set in a fearful look.

Aina gazed into the big maroon eyes that were set upon such a tiny and young face. She was immediately reminded of Nira. But gone was the animosity and malice that she had for so long held for those eyes. The eyes that had haunted her every move for almost three centuries. She was now face to face with them again; embodied in her sister's daughter and all she could feel was…love.

Aina clutched her heart for a moment and it pained her to see her niece struck with sheer terror at the sight of her. Yes the blood bond between them was enough to frighten poor, little Saya beyond the point of words at the very sight of Aina, but the fact remained that her love for Joel had, even if for but a moment, been so overwhelming that it took precedent over the blood bond. The bond that should have immediately alerted Saya to Aina's presence. The evidence was there. Since Saya had been so blinded by her love for Joel it was clear that love conquered blood, at least in Saya. Aina could not kill her niece, her sister's daughter. Saya reminded her too much of Nira and all the things that could have been. To kill Saya would have been to kill Nira once more, to condemn her and confirm their relationship as archenemies and nothing else; especially not sisters. Aina could not do that, she could not deny Nira as her sister and she could not kill her niece, not when her eyes would begin to haunt Aina's dreams as well. She could not bear the murder of yet another queen on her conscience, and so she would consent to defeat.

“Alright Mr. Goldschmidt, I think your daughter has been terrified by my presence for long enough. Let us discuss this a bit more at the door as I take my leave.” Joel nodded and cooed to Saya to persuade her to release her crushing grip on him.

“Saya, we adults must leave for a moment now, but I will return and then we will have lunch together, alright?” Saya's eyes returned her to father's loving face and she nodded with a smile, returning to play with her toys. Joel closed the door behind them and Aina spoke, her tone much less authoritative and intimidating as before but she still spoke with great confidence.

“I see now what you mean. It is love that now binds you and Saya together. Her love for you came before her blood ties to me. I suppose that means that your claim to her is greater.” Aina turned to face Joel at the door and shook his hand. “Take good care of her and love her as best you can, she will need it if she is to survive in this world. I do not want her to suffer the same fate as her mother.”

“I assure you she will not.”

“You cannot promise me that until you reassure me as to the whereabouts of her twin sister.” Joel grew silent, but Aina was no longer on alert, she had come to like Joel in the very short time that they had been together. Her epiphany, inspired by Joel, had given her reason to trust him and now she did so blindly. “Do you know what happened to her twin?” Aina had not smelled the other sister's blood. She had not felt the presence of another sister, only heard the singing of one and smelt the blood of one. There was no other.

Joel's eyes drifted towards the floor as he reluctantly said, “She passed away when we conducted experiments to help us understand the children.” His gaze met Aina's and she could see nor feel anything but remorse from him, she believed him fully. “There was an accident. She started bleeding, we panicked, we transfused Saya's blood into her before she could stop it and…we lost her.”

“I see.” Aina was remorseful but she did not feel much grief. She could not mourn for an unknown burden. She shook Joel's hand goodbye and left the Goldschmidt estate.

Aina figured she could leave knowing that the only other Chiropteran Queen in the world was in the loving, caring hands of Joel Goldschmidt. In the next century, she would learn just how wrong she had been.