The Legend of the Blue Eyes by B. Kristin McMichael

was how she left it, it
didn’t feel comforting since she had been kidnapped from the same
room. After much reassurance from Devin that she was safe, Arianna
tried to relax with a hot bath. As she soaked in the tub, she
pondered everything that had happened since she had left home. It
was all too unbelievable. Her Uncle Gabriel, her grandfather,
dearg-duls, personal guards, drinking blood, kidnappings, murder,
and a new, extravagant lifestyle swirled through her head as the
last of the bubbles faded away. Her life had changed drastically in
just a short twenty-four hours. Every fact she knew to be true was
being shattered, one after another. Her life, as she knew it, was a
lie. Her aunt and uncle were not related to her. Her family, which
she thought was dead, was not. Her birthday wasn’t even on the day
she thought.
    After rinsing off the soap
and putting on her pajamas, Arianna tried to go to sleep in the
king–sized, four-post bed, but found it was too different from her
normal, single bed at home. Home , Arianna thought. Where is that? Her life
was now in disarray, and though she could still remember the small
apartment above the diner, a part of her told her it was no longer
home. But this isn’t home either. The strange room, decorated for a five year-old,
wasn’t home. The pink fluffy comforter was not home. The six
ruffled pillows now piled on the floor were not home.
    Arianna lay still,
listening to the room around her. Though she tried to only focus on
the room, her ability to hear traveled down the corridors of the
large estate to the ballroom. She could hear the laughing and
talking of complete strangers as they enjoyed themselves. The click
of high heels and formal shoes kept the beat to the faint music
that continued to play . Doesn’t anyone
sleep around here? she wondered, as she
stared at the clock flashing 3:43AM. Arianna sighed as she
realized, they were dearg-duls, night humans. Of course they don’t sleep at night ,
she told herself. Arianna began to ponder her new existence. She
knew very little of dearg-duls. Would it be like the movies? Would
they turn to ash at the slightest sunlight? Did they attack
innocent people to feed? Would vampire hunters follow her, trying
to put a wooden stake through her heart? What about garlic and holy
water? Was she now immortal?
    Arianna tossed and turned
in her bed as she failed to fall asleep. The guests, enjoying the
night, continued to talk and dance as time crawled on. Arianna
tried to picture her bed at home: the soft, worn sheets, her
favorite pillow she refused to give up, and the window that allowed
her to see the moon as she fell asleep. It was no longer her home,
but she longed to be there anyways. This
isn’t going to work , she thought. There
was no way she could fall asleep with all the noises to distract
her.
    Silently, Arianna opened her bedroom door to
peer into the sitting room. The fire in the fireplace crackled and
slightly flickered as the air from her bedroom pushed past it to
the chimney. On the couch, sitting with his back to her, Devin was
reading papers. Without looking up, he stopped, and placed the
papers on the coffee table.
    “Having trouble sleeping?” he asked, as he
picked up a new set of papers.
    “Mm hmm,” she replied, sitting next to him.
“You know, it’s almost four in the morning.”
    “Is it?” he asked.
    “Don’t you sleep?” she asked.
    “I normally only sleep two to four hours a
night,” he responded.
    “What are you doing so late?” she
wondered.
    “Going over the files from today,” he
explained. Arianna nodded as she curled her feet beneath her to
keep her toes warm. “It’s my job to keep you safe, so I need to
make sure we didn’t miss anything.”
    “Your job?” she asked. “But you’re only
seventeen, right?”
    Devin smiled as he set down the paper and
picked up the next. “Correct, but I’m still employed by your
grandfather.”
    “But you’re just a high-school student,”