Olivia's Prince

Young Olivia looked down at their entwined hands. A small blush creeped up on her soft cheeks, while her wide shining eyes curved into two small crescents. She gave the young boy a shy smile while nodding her head.

The young boy squeezed her delicate hands and led her off the old podium.

"Well then my lady, first, a walk through town," The boy walked her all the way down to the narrow town centre.

Villagers bustled around hastily, in a rush to get their daily groceries done. The hawkers filled the streets with their foghorn like shouts, in a bid to attract more customers. All in all, a very normal day in their small village.

The two children were not new to this. They walked around familiarly, as if it were their own back garden. From stall to stall, the boy bought young Olivia all the little snacks and trinkets that he could afford. Of course, this was after saving up all the money he had earned from his odd jobs and even then, he still continued to haggle with the prices.

Olivia, however, was overjoyed. She felt that she was truly a noblewoman that was being courted by a knightly prince. The entire time during their walk, not once did her bright smile drop off her face. Neither did her hand ever leave the young boy's. So what if Mandy often teased her about being this old yet still wanting to play princes and princess? She felt happy and to the young Olivia of that time, that was all that mattered.

As they were walking, Olivia sneaked a peek at her prince. She felt that in her eyes, he was truly very pretty. When Olivia thought this, she giggled to herself, causing the young boy to look at her.

"What are you laughing about?" He asked in amusement.

"I just thought you were very pretty. Like a prince!" Young Olivia beamed up at him.

"Eh? Pretty? I'd prefer it if you said handsome," He said with a playful smile.

Soon, the sky drifted into darkness, an indication that it was time to call it a day.

"You're off to the Black Swan today, right?"

Olivia nodded her head, albeit a little upset that the day was quickly coming to an end, "Mandy's day off."

This was often Olivia's routine. Whenever Mandy had a day off, she would sleep with her, otherwise she'd have to go off and sleep at the shack. Obviously, young Olivia much preferred the days when she slept at the Black Swan as opposed to the shack. The shack was merely a dilapidated and abandoned building that had been taken over by both orphans and the homeless.

"Alright then, let's go," The boy gave her a soft smile while ruffling her hair.

"You're still playing this game? Aren't you too old Olivia?" Mandy once again teased as she took off the dirty makeshift veil when they had returned.

"It's alright isn't it? She's still a child," The young boy commented from the side of the room, leaning against the wall.

"You spoil her too much, Miles," Mandy sighed.

"That was the last time! I'm not a child anymore," Olivia huffed, interrupting the pair. Her mouth was pouty while her cheeks were fluffed up.

Mandy and Miles looked at each other before laughing. Their joyous laughter rippled throughout the room.

While Mandy was getting Olivia cleaned up, Miles took out a cigarette and lit it with a matchstick before taking a deep puff.

Mandy turned from behind and frowned slightly, "Didn't I tell you you're too young to be smoking?"

Miles gave another deep puff before slowly exhaling, "I'm strong as a bull, don't you worry. Isn't that right, Livy?"

"Don't call me Livy." Olivia humped but didn't refute his words.

Mandy shook her head at the pair but a small smile played on her lips.

"…livia"

"Olivia."

A warm hand pulled up her chin as her eyes came face to face with dark crimson ones. Once Olivia heard her name, she snapped out of her depressing trip down memory lane. She wanted to swallow down her brewing feelings, but her chest continued to feel stifled while the area around her was particularly gloomy.

Olivia's eyes rested on Alexander's for a moment before moving away, only to find out that they had long left the drawing room and were already back upstairs in his room.

She slowly woke up from her stupor and looked back at Alexander who was frowning down at her.

"What's wrong?" He had no idea what had happened. One moment she was fine, and the next time he looked, she looked to be gloomy and in despair.

It was not the first time he had seen her like this. Ever since he brought her back, she sometimes had these moments where he would catch her looking forlorn and desolate. When the same thing happened once again this time, he could not help but ask.

Olivia pursed her lips tightly. She didn't want to answer, or rather she didn't want to say it out loud. She quickly moved her gaze away, not wanting those red pupils to read into her any deeper.

As the silence continued, her chest felt increasingly stuffier as the seconds ticked by.

Meanwhile, Alexander could see how dismal and sombre she looked. Her chin was still in the palm of his hand. The soft and supple skin felt unusual and nice under his fingertips, so much so, that he gently ran his thumb across the side of her jaw.

Olivia didn't know what the vampire was doing. Only after he had skimmed over her jaw did she realise he was still holding her. Not only that, when he ran his thumb across, her skin felt prickly and tingled slightly. Her chestnut brown eyes looked up at him. There, the pair stood opposite each other, staring at one another.

Although her feelings abated slightly, nonetheless, the sense of suffocation had not yet disappeared.

Olivia gently pulled Alexander's hand away and quietly walked back to her room without a sound.

Alexander was left staring at his hand before looking back at the closed door. His tumb and index finger rubbed against each other in an attempt to recall her soft skin.

In the end, he walked over and sat in his chair, pouring himself a drink as he mulled over his thoughts, every once in a while looking over at the closed wooden door.

Once in her room, Olivia lay on her bed, staring up at the white ceiling. Her thoughts were in disarray and now that she was reminded of them once again, she couldn't muster up the energy to act normal, hence her escape from Alexander.

Speaking of the vampire, Olivia's fingers drifted over the same area he had just touched, except this time she didn't feel any tingles. Soon, her finger slid further down to the side of her neck. Suddenly, she recalled what had happened a few days ago.

It was the first time a vampire had fed off of her, let alone Alexander. Her fingers managed to find the exact place his fangs had pierced, but of course, there was no longer any leftover evidence. She felt that the whole experience was rather novel but very unforgettable.

As her fingers continued to circle around the same corner on her neck, she couldn't help but remember the animalistic looking Alexander, especially when he growled at Reginald. He looked as if he was a few seconds away from ripping the poor butlers' head off.

Olivia could not help but ponder whether that was just left over madness from the curse or something innate?

After a while, Olivia frowned and dropped her lingering hand back down on to her bed.

Mandy, Miles and everyone else. She didn't dare to think whether they were ok or not. Everyone knew that the average lifespan in a village like hers wasn't all that high, and that was particularly true for orphans like her and Miles, yet in a stroke of misfortune, her lifespan had now been extended almost indefinitely yet she didn't even know whether they were dead or still alive.

Olivia slowly curled herself into a tight ball. Her long brown hair, splayed behind her. She took a few breaths before slowly standing up and looking outside her window. The yellow and orange hues of the sun setting had left its shadow on the grassy plains. She was now here and could no longer look over there.

Finally, she moved away from the window.

One day, quite late into the night, someone had knocked on her bedroom door.

Olivia had not yet gone to sleep, so confused as to who was there, she got up and opened the door.

"Master Alexander requires your presence," Reginald stoically informed.

Thankfully, Olivia had not yet changed into her nightwear as she was too lazy to move. She eyed Reginald for a moment, before walking across the hallway.

"Ahem, Miss Olivia, Master Alexander requires your presence downstairs. In the carriage."

Olivia stopped walking and raised her eyebrows at him. Where on earth would they be going to at this time of night?

As she walked downstairs, Olivia didn't bother asking Reginald and directly stepped into the carriage. Soon, the driver drove off, while Olivia stared at the vampire in front of her.

"So? Where are we off to now?"

Once he had heard her voice, Alexander opened his eyes and looked at the young girl in front of him. The moonlight that peeked in from the window had managed to grace her face, causing her features to look hauntingly beautiful, her whole person glowed under the soft light.

After a while, he slowly closed his eyes again, his red lips only opening once to say, "Somewhere fun."