Chapter Four : Decision CONTINUED

Lorqueil was quiet for a moment and Christine had this feeling that Lorqueil was about to get mad and shout at her, but he didn't. When he opened his mouth, he continued to speak in the same soft, gentle voice as he always did when speaking to Christie.

"How would you like to pay a visit to The Vampire Kingdom right now? I bet you forgot a lot about the place your lover grown up in. And maybe a visit to The Vampire Kingdom might change your mind about transforming into mere human," he sighed.

Not knowing what else to say, Christie nodded.

"Good," he grinned. "But you'll have to, uhh, disguise yourself a bit. I imagine the vampires will panic if they see me with the long lost Princess Christianne. Here, wear this."

It was a pair of fake fangs. Christie wore it obediently.

"Maybe I should change my clothes into something black?" she suggested. Lorqueil laughed.

"It was long time ago when all vampires have to dress in black. Nah. Nowadays you see vampires wearing clothes of all colors and styles. The only thing remained the same was their fangs. I guess we'll better leave a note to Mirage and Nox telling them where we're going to," he said as he took out a piece of paper and scribbled a few words on it, and put it on the table.

"I guess it'll be better if we fly there, that would be faster," Lorqueil said as he opened the door.

"Fly? I don't think I remember how to do it..."

Again, Lorqueil laughed. "I can see that my blood still flows in your veins. Never mind, I'll summon Vornneon then," he whistled in a high-pitch. "Vornneon is my pet unicorn," he added, seeing that blur expression on Christie's face.

Vornneon had arrived in a few minutes. He didn't look at all like what Christie had imagined a unicorn to be. Vornneon was a strong, black horse will black wings and a golden horn on his head. There was red gleam in his eyes that made him look evil.

Once they were both in the sky, Christie decided to break the silence.

"Why didn't you suck out all your blood in me? That will change me back into Princess Christianne totally, and I wouldn't be thinking of silly suggestions like becoming a human. Why didn't you do so?" Christie blurted out. Really, either suck out all the blood or don't suck at all, Christie thought in frustration. This feeling of being divided into two is torturing me.

Lorqueil smiled. "You might think I'm the world's biggest fool if I tell you why."

"Oh, come on," Christie encouraged him to speak it out. "The curiosity is killing me."

"Did Nox tell you that I'm a poetic vampire?"

Christie shook her head.

"Well, I am poetic. I thought the idea of having some of my blood in you is romantic-I am always with you that way. You know I want to be with you all the time."

It was hard to get mad at such a romantic confession.

"I'll start worrying that you might one day cut me to drink my blood then, because you want to be with me all the time. You're such a scary lover," Christie laughed. Lorqueil laughed too.

"Nah, hurting my girl is not my idea of romance. Anyway, a vampire's blood is powerful, especially one with deep, true love. My blood can protect you against danger. I know you'll suffer from it, because you feel that you are divided into half. But better suffer from that than to have your soul taken by The Grim Reaper or something even worse."

"You okay, Christie? You're so quiet."

"I'm just... I just feel very insecure. I'm suddenly entering a whole new world without knowing much about it. And the way you guys talk make me feel like I'm in peril, and I'm not at all prepared to face the dangers ahead. And I couldn't even remember to fly..." Christie sobbed uncontrollably onto Lorqueil's shoulders.

"You'll be fine, Christie," Lorqueil assured her. "Once we get to The Vampire Kingdom I'll help you recall your powers. And about transforming into human beings... I don't know whether if Nox had told you about this, but it is not a very practical idea."

"Why?" Christie asked before she could stop herself.

"B-because..." Lorqueil stammered. This was the first time Christie saw him stammer. "Please don't laugh at my stubbornness. Because I simply won't allow that to happen. Changing into mere human means I'll forget all about you, which is something I simply won't permit. I... I love you too much to forget you," he blushed. "Shouldn't have taught Nox about potions. She is now so good at it that she actually surpassed me at potions. I'll never be able to stop it if she slips a murderous potion into my drinks. Thank God she will never do that."

Christie sighed deeply. Seems like it's impossible for me to return to my normal life, since this stubborn lover of mine simply won't permit it, she thought miserably.

"Anyway," Lorqueil said, trying to change the subject. "Do you know that Mirage has a crush on Nox?"

"What?" this new piece of information had distracted Christie completely. "That sounds kind of impossible!"

"Indeed," Lorqueil laughed. "Once when he visited me at my castle, he saw me teaching Nox to attack. He said he fell in love with her grace right at that moment, but I didn't know how true it was. You know he craps a lot. Pity him that Nox was never really impressed about him. Always say he's too impulsive for his own good."

"Yeah... and she likes you," Christie added in a quiet voice.

"I know," Lorqueil replied. "She confessed to me before. That girl, she sure got spunk. I told her that someone else had my heart completely. All these years I've been trying very hard to get her to fall for Mirage anyway. Too bad it was a fruitless effort."

"Have you ever consider this... that Nox might suit you better than me?"

Lorqueil was so surprised at Christie's suggestion that he accidentally kicked Vornneon at the sides. Vornneon did something like a half a somersault in the air due to agony, causing Christie to scream.

"Are you suggesting a break up?" Christie gave a little nod, deliberately turning her head away so that Lorqueil wouldn't see the tears rolling in her eyes. "Why? Did I do anything wrong? Tell me!"

"I just think... it will be so hard to continue. Our relationship, I mean," Christie tried to speak without sounding like she was crying. "We couldn't even get our parents blessing, and that's not a good omen for our relationship. You and Nox... at least both of you come from the same world."

"Nox will be happy to hear this," Lorqueil said in a surprisingly calm voice. "Listen, Christie. I know it's hard for you to suddenly come out of your comfort zone and enter a world that seems totally new. Don't worry too much, okay? Remember, I'm always here for you and things are going off to a bad direction, we will set it right. Who knows? Maybe our love will unite The Kingdom on the Cloud and The Vampire Kingdom. Maybe the vampires will realize that they can do something good with their powers, instead of being evil all the time. Then our love will be blessed," Lorqueil held Christie's hand and kissed her palm. "As long as you continue to love me, there's no way I'm going to give up on you. You are the reason that I continue to live. So please, give up on the thought of break up or changing us both into human beings. Please, for the sake of me. Take pity on this vampire that is hopelessly devoted to you."

Christie looked into Lorqueil's eyes where she saw his sorrows. He must've suffered a lot for their love, too but he had never gave up. Where else could she find a lover more loyal than Lorqueil?

"Yes, Lorqueil," she spoke with determination. "I will never, ever think of break ups or turning us into human. For our love."

Lorqueil smiled, embraced her and kissed her neck from behind.

"Anway, Lorqueil," Christie asked, grinning since she can finally made up her mind. "Is Mirage a vampire? How come I don't see his fangs?"

Lorqueil chuckled. "He is a vampire alright, but he lost his fangs during a vampire fight. As Nox said, he is too impulsive. He should know that he's no match for that vampire... But don't worry, Nox brew him a potion, he should get his fangs to grow back in no time."

"Ah, I see. Then how is he going to suck blood without his fangs?"

"We have all sort of vampire restaurants in The Vampire Kingdom. And most of them... You'll find them gross, cause we have corpse inside, cursed to have their blood flowing in their veins for the vampires to suck on them. The best corpse will be human corpse, costing about RM200, depends on the flavor of the corpse's blood. Usually an infant's corpse can cost up to RM800. Then we have animals' dead bodies and at last, we have blood drinks and dishes. That means we'll have chefs to extract blood from the corpse and make them into drinks and dishes. There are things like frozen blood, blood latte, blood bites and so on. Mirage will have to survive on those kind of food right now. He can eat human food, too."

"But I thought vampires subsist on blood?"

"Yes, we do but that does not mean blood is the only thing we can consume. We just need to get a mouthful of blood every week to keep us alive and healthy. We can enjoy human food, too!"

The two magical lovers chatted their time away on the journey to The Vampire Kingdom.