edited by GeekAngel
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Part III: Awakening
Dalia lie awake, blindfolded, trying to feel, to understand the changes in her body. She first noticed the silence of her heart. While alive, she never noticed its constant rhythm. Now its absence was deafening. Her fingers felt cold, but not numb. She could feel the very air currents rushing around them as if a gale force wind was gushing through the room.
Besand removed Dalia's blindfold. She blinked repeatedly. The faint purple glow around the edge of her curtains burned her eyes. She brought up her hand to shield them. "Is it this bright to you, Master?"
"No, Dalia. It is instinct that makes you fear the light. It is quite harmless like this, and as your mind understands that, so your eyes will adjust."
Dalia rose from the bed and walked over to the mirror on her vanity. She wanted to examine her new self. Besand laughed. "I have never seen my eyes, young child. You shan't either." Dalia frowned into the empty mirror. She turned to face Besand. She started to speak, but Besand hushed her with a motion of his hand. He made another motion, and she felt her legs buckle. She could not help but to kneel before Besand. Her eyes cast themselves at her master's feet. "Now listen to me."
"You were blessed, as well as cursed, last night. You are stronger than any mortal, faster than any animal. You are time's mistress; she cannot touch you. Soon you will learn to fly, to drift, to charm, and to kill. But remember this. You are my possession until I choose to release you. You are weaker than I, slower than I, and you are my slave. Though you have lost your mortality, you can still die and it would be far greater a death then anything you ever could have imagined or experienced as a mortal. The moment you forget that, die you will. Nod if you understand me, Dalia." She did. "Now look at me."
She lifted her eyes. Besand pupils were slits lying amidst ruby irises. She had never seen him like this. Fear coursed through her still veins. There was no going back, she told herself. She was now pledged to this demon of a man, for better or for worse. Not that that should matter, for she too was a demon herself.
"Are you thirsty my love?" Dalia nodded her head in agreement. "Then stay here. Do not leave the house." Besand looked at the bed. The sheets were covered in Dalia's spilt blood. "Change the sheets before I return." Besand walked over to his kneeling slave. He touched her cheek, and then silently walked out of the room.
Dalia sighed and rose from her knees. She stripped the bed throwing the sheets into the hamper. She wasn't sure why she bothered. They were ruined. Then it occurred to her that she couldn't live here anymore. Where would she go? It didn't matter. Besand would take care of her. She opened the closet and pulled a set of dark red sheets from a shelf. Absently, she made the bed.
Her thirst was growing rapidly. She finished tucking in the sheets and walked into the bathroom. She jumped slightly when she looked into the empty glass above the sink. Strange. It would take some getting used to. She filled a cup full of water and drank greedily. It did nothing to satisfy her. All she could do was wait.