We were cruising on a windy mountain road. It’s a crisp night, but Annabelle insisted on me taking her for a ride on my motorcycle again before the snow starts. I was trying to take it easy on turns in case we hit ice, but she yelled, go faster! Into my ear. This weird feeling in my gut tells me we should not be up here right now. It had rained earlier, and it’s chilly enough to make the leftover water on the road turn into ice. I held her hands for a second to warm them. Not paying attention we came up on the turn too fast, hit ice and I lost control of the bike.

We hit the road and slid; I watched in slow motion as she veered to the right and hit the side of the mountain. My body veered to the left, and I flew off the edge. When I came to there was a big, dark creature with black angelic wings. I hope whatever this thing is, is trying to help us.

“What are you?”

“I am whats called a Sitri, a demon.”

“Demon?”

I tried to inch away from him but at once felt a sharp pain go through my leg.

“It looks broken.”

“Where is Annabelle?”

“I took her to the hospital.” He knelt to take a look, “I can not take you in the sky injured.” He stared at me for a while took a cell phone out of his pocket and called an ambulance.

He stood there with me until we started hearing sirens and seeing flashing lights.

“I better go,” he said.

Then he took off into the sky, I watched as he disappeared above the trees. The way he explained what he was leading me to believe he is not the only Sitri out there. I will alert the King and see if he has any information on them.

As the paramedics ran up to me they assisted my leg and put it in a splint. Another shoved a breathing mask in my face. Then moved me onto the stretcher putting me into the ambulance. The whole while police were there asking me questions. Have I been drinking or speeding, I told them how I hit ice and lost control of my bike. I told them I had Annabelle with me but she arrived at the hospital with a stranger that saw it happen. They asked me if I knew his name and I said no that I never got his name.

“I am sure she is at the hospital, we will ask the front desk.” A paramedic said.

“She has long blonde hair and hazel eyes.”

Hoping that will help with finding her. The rest of the way to the hospital was a quiet one, I was laying there thinking of Annabelle and hoping she was alright. I know she must have banged herself after seeing her hit the side of the mountain so hard. If only I have remembered my damn helmet. Good thing that Sitri was there to rush her to the emergency room, I bet he got her there quick. Something deep inside told me to trust him.

Once we got to the hospital, I’m nervous the humans are going to draw my blood. Or tests that could compromise my secret. I am sure they took Annabelle’s blood when she arrived. I needed to get fixed up and get us the hell out of here before they started realizing we are not human. After they fixed and bandaged my leg, I asked for a wheelchair and to go to her room. They said they have figured out where she is and that they will be taking me to her shortly. I laid there in my hospital bed not watching the Simpson’s, but waiting.

I kept staring at the clock, what is taking them so long? I hope they have not figured out we are vampires, be hard to fight our way out right now, I should call the king. A nurse came in with a wheelchair and pulled it up to my bed, he helped me into it and pushed me outside the room. Then a female nurse took over and brought me the rest of the way.

When we entered her room she was sitting up in her bed watching TV with a bandage wrapped around her head. She looked over at me with a blank stare, she must be mad at me for forgetting the helmet.

“Who are you?”

Shocked at that question, I took a while to respond. “You do not know who I am?”

I looked over at the doctor. “She has a severe head injury and some mild memory loss.

"Give her time to recover she may gain her memories back over time.” The doctor said.

I then took out my phone and called the king and told him everything that had happened to come to the hospital.

“What?! I will be right there.” The King said.

“Your father is on his way.”

“Do you want a drink, I am getting coffee?”

“Okay, no thanks I am fine.”

“I will be right back.”

I wheeled myself out of Annabelle’s room.

Annabelle’s eyes fluttered open. She started looking around the hospital room in confusion.

“What happened, why am I here?”

She asked nobody, in particular, an empty room. She touched the sore spot on her head and noticed a bandage. A head injury, she thought. She couldn’t remember what had happened and nobody around to ask.

Annabelle started looking around her bed for a call button or a phone. Must be one here somewhere. Finding the call button I pressed the call button and a nurse’s voice came out saying they’re on their way to my room. Didn’t take long for my nurse to show up, she’s a tall slender lady with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts but other than that, I am fine.... what happened?”

"You were in a motorcycle accident, you don’t remember it?”

“Motorcycle accident...no I can’t remember.”

“Your doctor should be here soon, I’ll get you something for your headache.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Might as well make myself comfortable. I used that same remote I used to call the nurse to turn on the little TV mounted up on the wall out in front of me. I pushed the up button to raise the back of my bed to a sitting up position. I leaned back and started flipping through the few channels. Had to settle on Golden Girls. It is a funny TV show if you can get through the theme song in the beginning. It always makes me have an urge to change the channel. Better this than an infomercial on losing belly fat.

I hope her memory returns, I can tell I am a stranger in her eyes. What should I say to her father when he gets here? The king is going to be so pissed at me but I deserve it. I wheeled my way through the florescent lit halls to the lobby to find the coffee machine. I found the keurig and wondered how I was going to reach. The lady at the front desk was busy, and I did not want to bother her. So I pulled myself up to the counter and leaned over it to keep weight off of my broken leg.

That was hard but mission accomplished. Staring into my cup of coffee that was as black as my soul, made my thoughts go to that Sitri again. How did he bring Annabelle in, he must have dropped her off in front of the emergency entrance?

I have so many questions for him if we ever cross paths again. I finished my coffee, getting ready to throw it away and head back to Annabelle’s room when a man walked through the front emergency entrance. He looked over at me and held my gaze, Is that him? He had the same features.

“I brought in a girl from a motorcycle accident earlier named Annabelle.”

The lady at the front desk said,

“Yes, I remember you.”

With a flirty smile. He returned her smile and asked,

“Can I see her?”

She stared at him for a while,

“No, only her family members are allowed.”

“I understand.”

He held her eyes in his for a moment and whispered,

“You will let me visit her.”

With a blank stare, she said,

“You can go visit her.”

As he walked towards the hallway, I looked back at the lady and she blinked a few times and shake her head. Did he get inside her mind? He stopped when he noticed me.

“Hey, I am the one who helped you during the accident and wanted to check on how you both are.”

I blinked, “How do you look so human?” “I can change into human form if needed.”

“I’d appreciate it if you do not tell anyone what I am.” Looking me dead in the eyes.

“I will not tell anyone, I’m not human either.” He stared at me confused waiting for an answer.

“Annabelle and I are both vampires.”

“I am one of her Guards, she is a Princess and so you know, her father is on his way.”

“Well, I am no threat so don’t tell her father what I am and tell him I helped at the accident.”

“I don’t remember if I told you but my name is Damian.” He reached out and shook my hand.

“How is your leg?”

I looked at it and said: “Oh, I am completely numb they pumped me full of painkillers.”

“That is good, man.” He nodded.

He motioned to my wheelchair. “You want me to push you?”

I laughed. “Sure, we will get there faster.”

He got behind the wheelchair, turned us around and started pushing me descending the hallway.

The rest of the way was silent. We turned the corner; I saw the guards outside Annabelle’s room. Let me know the King is here. We stopped at the guards and I introduced Damian to them. They said their polite thank you for helping the princess and then turned to me.

“The king wants you to wait here until he comes out to talk to you.”

That is not good, I thought.

“Okay.”

“Where is your phone, we were trying to call you?”

“I lost it during the accident.”

“You will need a new one then.”

“Yes.”

The king came out of her room,

“How could you let this happen?” He said through gritted teeth.

“No helmet?”

“You are not allowed to date my daughter anymore.”

“If you go against my wishes, I will strip you of your guard duties and you will never be able to lay your eyes her again.”

“Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, sir,” I said defeated.

“I understand this was my fault, I risked her life,” I said.

He nodded, “Yes, she could have died.”

“You are to guard her against the shadows, I do not want her seeing you and making any connections.” He said.

“Okay.”

“You should go back to your room.” He said.

Motioning me to leave, he turned to Damian.

“I understand that you came up on the accident and helped my daughter?”

“Yes, sir, my name is Damian.”

“I came back to check on her?”

“Well, as you may know, she has a head injury, but she’s expected to recover, thanks to you.”

“Has memory loss though, doctors say she may regain it later.” He said.

I started off towards my room, upset at what has happened, I am in a dream. We were both having fun on my motorcycle now we are here and so much has changed. Even if she does regain her memory, will she be mad at me? I’m supposed to be her guard but never let her see me, that is going to be difficult?

The king is mad at me and sending me away but letting a demon in her room. I should tell the king but I can’t let him find out I put my trust in a demon. A lot of people have misconceptions of Vampires and we are mostly civilized.

There was a knock on the door.

I yelled, “It’s open.”

Damian strolled in and sat on the chair by my bed.

“I thought you could use the company.”

“I am fine and deserve everything that is happening.”

“Still, mistakes happen.” He said.

“Can you help me bust out of here, they want me to stay for observation?”

“Why do they need to watch you?”

"I hit the back of my head and have a goose egg knot."

“Okay, I guess but if you start vomiting or get dizzy, you will need to come back.”

“That is fine, my brother is home to take me if that happens.”

He nodded. He helped me back into the wheelchair. The nurse stopped us and asked what we were doing.

“We are getting coffee.”

“Okay, remember you can not leave, you’re on observation.” She said.

We nodded at her and kept going. Once in the front lobby, Damian walked to the lady at the desk and held her gaze awhile and then said.

“We are leaving and you’re not going to stop us.” She nodded.

Damian and I strolled through the doors with ease.

“We don’t need to fly?”

He shook his head, “no, I have my car.”

We stopped in front of a new black on black BMW. He wheeled me over to the passenger side, opened the door and helped me into the seat.

“You have a nice car, man,” I said.

“Thanks.”

“I can not fly around everywhere and not be seen by humans so this comes in handy.” He said. "Comes in handy too for a Vampire who can not dematerialize because he is injured.” I laughed. “Yeah, well, let us get you home.” He laughed helping me into his car. He threw the wheelchair into the trunk and got in and started the engine. The car roared to life and then we were off, soaring through the windy roads.

“This is a dumb question but do I need you inside your house before the sun comes?”

"We still have a few hours."

He laughed.

Next Chapter: Chapter Eighteen