Free Dangerous Love by Stephanie Radcliff

her to figure out what exactly was needed to keep one of her kind alive. Back in that day and age, she didn’t really care about humans that much. Her past was not the most beautiful of pasts. Rubbing her forehead, she said, “Yeah, unfortunately that is true. I’m the exception to my kind in that I don’t need to sleep in a coffin. Probably the result of being created instead of “born,” as my kind call it.”
    “How were you created?” she asked as she got up to put her bowl in the sink. It was really strange to hear a vampire talk about being created, instead of being turned. She was very curious to know how Vayna became a vampire.
    Said ancient vampire didn’t say anything. She stared at the floor, a dark look on her face as memories of the past resurfaced in her mind. How did she become a vampire? That was a very long story, and one she wasn’t sure she was willing to talk about that right then. Turning, she walked away from the human as she said, “I’ll tell you some other time.”
    Sage stood there, watching her vampire walk off to her bedroom with a confused look on her face. She wondered what just happened. One moment Vayna was willing to talk to her, and the next she closed up. The human felt confused and lost. What was she supposed to do now?

Chapter 4
    The afternoon sun shown over the city, still unable to reach the one that spurned its touch for a creature of its sister’s. It was upset that it lost one that was so precious to it. The hour found Sage curled up on Vayna’s couch, a cup of tea in her hands as she stared blankly at the T.V. that was running in the background. Her mind drifted through the conversation she and Vayna went through that morning. She was still puzzled by the abrupt change that came over her lover and she wasn’t sure what to do. She didn’t mean to upset her by bringing up past memories. She was only curious to know more about the woman that took her in and showed her kindness.
    Vayna stood in the shadows of the hallway, gazing at Sage. She had been there, simply watching her, ever since she left the human in the kitchen. She knew her lover hadn’t meant to upset her. But she couldn’t help the rush of memories that hit her the moment Sage asked that question. In hindsight, she should’ve expected her to ask that. On some level, she was expecting it, but she didn’t prepare herself enough to answer it. She stared emptily at her human as her mind drifted back, over 3,000 years ago to her creation…
    A woman with long, pitch black hair and tanned complexion walked down a sandstone hallway. Her light cotton dress flowed down to her knees and was decorated with gold thread. Around her waist was a sash the color of the darkest purple, the image of a falcon embroidered on it using the same gold thread. Around her head was a gold metal headband, a carved cobra standing up in attack position, its hood flared was attached to it. Her crown. She wore other, gilded jewelry that signaled who she was, but it was the crown that alerted everyone to her status the most. Behind her, two guards walked silently, her constant shadows. Her footsteps were soundless as she approached a massive door. Two more guards stood on either side of it, backs straight as they guarded what lay inside. They noticed the woman approaching and quickly opened the door as they announced, “Her Majesty, the Pharaoh!”
    The woman walked into the room, ignoring the servants and members of her court as they kneeled on the floor in front of her. The guards closed the door behind her and she walked up the steps to her throne, sitting down and making herself as comfortable as she could on the hard stone. Her shadows stood silently on either side of her, a little way behind her. Clapping her hands once, she said firmly, “Commence.”
    The servants and court members stood up and took their places. One court member stepped forward, an older woman with bright green eyes. She opened a scroll and said, “The