It was both hot and cold, she was shivering as she sweats out of her skin, muscles weak and jaw aching something fierce. The worst pain she had ever experienced in her long life. But that wasn't all, because various voices were circling. Soft and rumbling baritone, to muffled alto that spun around her in circles. On occasion, right beside her was a lilting soprano that nearly seemed the most worried. She would describe it as full of panic and anguish.
Then, there were the visions. Of a small young girl, shy, meek, with parents that had so much to do that she hardly saw them, hardly knew them. A little princess, literally, with dark olive skin, curled black hair, and the most curious eyes. They looked like a shade of magenta and red. Curiously matching both of her parent's eyes very well. But, at the same time, she knew that they weren't her parents, that she was always alone and that she wasn't supposed to be in a bed like she was. She didn't look like this, like a little princess from... A storybook. But that sparked a new flurry of thoughts, of visions, memories? Pain.
Who was Miss Taylor? That woman, old, bitter even when she was a young girl, never opening her heart or soul to anyone? Only ever finding an interest in fantasy as a teen before pushing that away too?
Who is Lavinia Bellemare who had just turned three and was suffering so much?
Were they both suffering or was it just one, but which one?
Why were they connected?
But... Lavinia was familiar, and the elder woman needed to sort out her thoughts, delving into her youth. She had read about someone with the name Lavinia Bellemare before, she'd watched a trashy show where the girl showed herself as a villain, she had even scrounged up enough savings to buy a game with the same results. The girl with this name had been pitiful, hated, and killed at the age of 25 because of various misunderstandings and delusions that surrounded another girl by the name of Josephine, what's called a heroine of these genres. A girl who claimed to be her half-sister, a half-vampire that was the main love interest throughout the series.
Josephine Angevin got every little thing she wanted in the world, her point of interest as the half-daughter of the vampire king her only real tragedy along with minor bullying that only went so far as words spoken behind her back and some ostracisation from other noble children. She met the prince of the human kingdom at eight and he quickly dubbed her his friend and just as quickly his childhood crush. She held status, became a close friend of royalty, met more royal males who fell for her sweetness, her naivete, her stubbornness, and her drive to make her father acknowledge her.
It was all so... Disgustingly uniform.
The largest twist was when it was revealed that this girl, who was an accessory to various lives ending, the literal destruction of a kingdom, wasn't the daughter of the king. Her mother had been duped by a traveling vampire containing the king's likeness, who was looking for idiotic rich girls from other kingdoms to use before continuing. There was no blood relation between herself and the royal family, she was just a common half-breed vampire. And for a moment she felt sad about the revelation, but when comforted by those who stood tirelessly by her side she resolved herself to find justice in the situation.
'If he had said something, he would have survived.'
'If they spoke up, it wouldn't have happened.'
'They were evil anyway, so what's the loss?'
'It's not my fault.'
Words like these showed her utter lack of guilt to all responsibility, she carelessly pushed her blame away. Those who had found Josephine a somewhat tolerable character, we're utterly disgusted by these thoughts of hers. Some wondered why a writer would even create such a character, so naive yet idiotic, worse than actual criminals, because even some of the worst scum uphold and own up to their crimes, yet here was a character who shirked off all obligation on the dead.
One would think this would ruin such a series, but instead, in unified hatred, the books continued to thrive, in the hopes that Josephine would taste wonderful karma. In hopes that all the pain she had set upon others would come around tenfold.
The harsh reality was when it didn't.
When nothing happened to her and her gaggle of boys, when they all lived a fairytale ending in their putrid lives, as though nothing was wrong. Sure, some calls had been close on their lives, many had left the group to there own devices, the vampires all but disappeared to another distant continent never to be seen again, but the group had formed a strong alliance, and no one wanted to face off with them in the vampire's name. That alone was more than suicide. No one was that strong.
Anger coursed through a tiny body at those thoughts, but who knows who was angry?
Was it Lavinia Bellemare, so small, in so much pain, who wasn't supposed to exist? Who isn't supposed to be real?
Or is it the anger of Ms. Taylor, who despised such a perfect life, such a happy ending? Who would scream of the unfairness of it all until her vocal cords bled? Because it was unfair, it is unfair, life is cruel and unfair so why should this one person, this one undeserving person be forced to suffer through tragedy while another lives in bliss?
Lavinia was just an unfortunate child, Ms. Taylor was just an unfortunate woman. They both lived unfortunate lives and died without fulfilling their dreams and goals.
Perhaps they could help one another. Perhaps they were made for each other. Perhaps this was all for a reason. Perhaps it was fate, that they met, that they were together, that they became one.
For the next week, the pain persisted, Ms. Taylor became used to Lavinia, and Lavinia drew in Ms. Taylor. They became one being, and as Lavinia opened her eyes and glanced at the exhausted forms of parents who spoke in hushed tones to the imperial doctor. No one had noticed her at first until she attempted to tilt her sore torso up, knowing that her throat was far too dry for any coherent speech. In less than a blink her parents and the doctor we're upon her, checking her over and seeming both joyous and relieved that she'd awoken. And she was happy too, to finally see those who cared for her, those who love her, those who would do so much for her.
She may be unable to protect them now, but there were many things she must do to become stronger.
For now, she would revel in this feeling, but as time passed, she would make sure that no one can take them away from her.