Chapter 137 - A Perculiar Illness

The battle of the Walkers has by far the greatest battle that we as the Belmont house have fought. It not only united us as a family, but it has made us grown stronger. It taught us the valuable lesson of what a bond holds and that love above all shall always prevail.

To say that it was not the most testing yet shall be a lie. Not only did it test our faith, but it also tested the limits of our minds and bodies. What else it has brought to the surface is, once, and yet again, another secret that I have been holding back on my beloved.

Now I am expecting the full wrath of her disappointment to come down on me, but she has to understand that what lies in Pandora's Box is a power so great that I have been left for so many years to keep the very existence of it a secret.

Now the power it holds is not truly known, but what is said is that it shall manifest whatever the desire is of the one that opens it. I have, on many occasions, felt the desire to do so myself, but once the power is unleashed upon the world, there is simply no way of reversing it back.

It was the year 1751 when I found myself in a sexual union with a rather questionable lady of leisure. Now, by leisure, I mean the kind where one shall pay for the services that she provides. Well, to say that it was not one of my proudest encounters is to be left unsaid, but the things that this young beauty did with her hands was by far every penny worth that I spent.

It was on one occasion while I was awaiting her presence that I came across this very peculiar box that she held on her nightstand. Now, of course, my very first instinct was to open it. Much to her relief, she stepped inside the room just before I could do so. After using my endless charm and giving her the greatest pleasure that she has ever had in her mortal life, I convinced her to reveal what the contents of this box might be. Much to my surprise, she herself had no knowledge but was told that she is to never open it.

Upon asking her how she came about the box, she rather amusingly continued to tell me about this story of an encounter that she had with a female. Well, this did indeed sparked my interest, and I pushed her to describe some more.

The story goes. A rather wealthy and powerful lady of stature came to the very establishment one night rather distressed. She had just caught her husband taking a woman that was not her in so many ways that she could even have dreamt of in their own marital bed. Out of pure anger, she came to seek the very same, but instead of finding the perfect male to take revenge upon her husband's betrayal, she came across this young lady. Now it is not sure if it was the alcohol or pure lust, but they soon found themselves hot and steamy under the covers. From there, a very and rather unusual affair blossomed. Now, of course, in those days, things such as these were frowned upon, and it did cause a rather big uproar that left the young bride's husband rather embarrassed. But she was in no way prepared to end her relationship with the other woman.

One day the young bride invited her lover to her home, purely in the effort to only but infuriate her husband more, and also her need to be sexually pleased was growing out of control. There was no stopping the passionate relationship, and with each day, it grew stronger and stronger. But there were at times concerns if the lover did, in fact, share the same feelings as the bride. So on this day that she was invited to the home, there turned a rather heated argument between the lover and the husband of the young bride. The bride was made to chose between her life of luxury and the life with a woman that had nothing but the clothes to her back.

And surprisingly to say, the young bride chose her husband. The lover totally devasted and scorned laid complete waste to all was in front of her eyes to see, but as she came to this very box that was held in a secure cabinet in a study, she was drawn to it. The urge to open it there and then was great. The husband, who was later found out to be a great warlock, let her have it in return for the heart of his bride, but before the lover left, he warned her never to open the box. And so she never did.

So, of course, once I laid my very own eyes on it, I too was drawn to the power that it possesses. After ending a very long and sexually gratifying relationship between this young lady and me, I then took the box for myself. I, too, had the desire to open it many times, but after doing months of endless research, I came to the knowledge of the true nature of the box. For fear that it ever would fall into the wrong hands, I kept it well hidden in my own study and never returned to it with the desire to open it.

And now its existence has become known.

And it is my determination to keep it hidden that has now brought me with a very furious Anastasia in front of me.

"My beloved, I beg of you to please listen for me for but a moment."

"Sebastian, I do not think there is one word that you can say that is going to change the fact that you have lied to me again."

"My beloved, I do not see it such as a lie; I was merely protecting the contents of the box. It holds great power that can corrupt the hand that opens it."

"Do you not trust me?"

"It is not that I do not trust you; it is what lies inside that I do not trust. Please let me explain."

I proceed to explain to her the great spell that the Warlock placed on the box. He had done so to create an ultimate source that can destroy all in its path. So after what seems like the better half of an hour, I manage to convince her that I only but did hold the protection of all at mind.

Not needing to have to argue further, I safely retreat the box to its safe hiding place with the hopes that it shall never be spoken about again.

Once back in the quiet of our room, I take my beloved in my arms. Her body is still somewhat shaken, and there is a rather unsettling paleness to her face. It seems that the battle has taken a great deal of strength from her, and she does seem somewhat drained. So I gently lay her down onto the soft satin sheets while I proceed to go to the bathroom to run her a very much-needed bath, though she very reluctantly agrees to join me.

I watch as she rises from the bed and slips her shirt that is drenched in blood off her shoulders. Much to my shock, even her body seems to have drained from color. It appears that she is almost near to fainting. I immediately rush to her side,

"My beloved, what seems to be the matter?"

"Sebastian, I feel kind of odd."

"Odd in which way?"

"Well, it feels as if my body wants to turn inside out. I have the incredible urge to get sick, yet I am not able to."

"Sick? Sick in which way?"

"Sick in the way that a human would get nauseous."

I softly chuckle at her as I take her by the hand, "My beloved, Vampires do not get sick. I am sure you are just feeling a bit uneasy after all the action."

"No, Sebastian, in fact, I have been feeling like this even before we started the battle."

This does immediately trouble me. Why has she not mentioned this before? But more importantly, what is it that is the matter? It is not that I can particularly take her to a Doctor…but wait.

"My beloved, you are a doctor; you surely should know what is wrong?"

"Sebastian, I were taught to diagnose humans, not Vampires."

She slowly lets go of me and proceeds to turn around to go to the bathroom, but she only but gets halfway, and I see her body crashing to the floor. In an instant, I am there to catch her, but as I am just about to pick her up, she does; as she said, she does get sick in a rather spectacular way. Well, I have never seen the day that a Vampire's insides turn out in such a way.

After what seems to be an agonizing few minutes, she takes my hand as I lead her back to the bed. Reluctantly I leave the room to go find the only man that will be able to sense what is wrong with her.

"Dear Breyden, please come quick. There is something rather oddly wrong with Anastasia."

"My god, Sebastian, has she been injured from the battle?"

"I wish I could say so. There is something completely else the matter with her. Well, she…well she just got rather violently ill, ill in a way that a Vampire should not."

Rather puzzled, he follows me to the room where Anastasia is lying even more pale than before. There is absolute concern on Breyden's face as he approaches her; the pure agony in her face alarms him. But then, as he touches her hand, something rather strange happens.

He smiles.

Now this man can be peculiar at the best of days, so what he is finding rather pleasing at this very present moment does set my mind at unease. So I approach him where he softly whispers into Anastasia's ear. Now it is unclear if there is terror or the same pleasing expression on her face, so I very reluctantly go to stand by their side.

"Please could someone tell me what is so pleasing about getting violently ill?"