She caught sight of something on the floor near the door. She keeled and picked it up. It was envolope with her name written on it in her husband's hand.
She carefully, but eagerly riped the envolope open, making certain not to damage whatever it was inside. Apollo often did things like this, leaving her love letters and detailed stories about dark creatures. She loved both the love letters and the stories, but mostly the stories. So creative and well written. The y showed human traits in those creatures, kindness, even love. She had her favorite stories, those that were about a young male vampire. She felt drawn to him.
She eagerly pulled the paper from the envolope and unfolded it. Her eyes scanned the words taking them in. She reread the letter three times before it finally sank in. She leaned on the wall to steady herself. Apollo, was a vampire.
Still leaning on the wall as she tried to catch her breath. She jolted when she heard one of the mansion's great doors slam shut. She tightened her grip on the letter, knowing that any moment Apollo would step through the door. To her it seemed like hours before he finally did. As she met his gaze her own grew hazy then grew dark and she fell to the floor.
* * *
Apollo placed a clod rag on Daphne's forehead. He prayed that she would wake soon. Not just so he could ease his own suffering, the aching feeling in the pit of his stomach, but because the sun had risen. If she did not wake soon, he would have to brave the sunshine and fetch her a doctor. He hated to feel so defeated, so helpless, yet he knew that he had no one to blame but himself. Her reaction, fainting when she saw his face, he took as a bad omen. Thinking that it meant she would flee from him like all the others did. It frightened him so much that his hand shook as he dabbed her face with a second washcloth.
She began to stir and he pulled his hand away, afraid of what she would do when she opened her eyes. She blinked several times, adjusting her eyes to the dim lighting of the room. Finally she opened them and looked into his face.
Normally pale, it was full of color. She couldn't tell if it was from worry, or from the cold morning air. His blond hair was a mess, meaning he must have been worrying. He always kept it neat, but when he worried he would run his fingers through his luscious locks making them fall out of place.
She had thought, that knowing his secret, she would look into his eyes and see something different, evil. She didn't. She saw the same emerald green eyes with the flecks of red and stripes of purple. In those eyes, glossy with tears, she saw only love and concern.
"I'm sorry." He said. "I should have told you sooner." He turned away unable to look at her.
She gazed at him. "You were scared. Weren't you?" He look back at her his eyes saying all she needed to know. "You were."
"Yes, I was." He stood and began to pace the room. "I'm a vampire. People are afraid of vampires, although we are mostly misunderstood. Everyone I have told has abandoned me."
"I.." she began. "I cannot promise that I won't." Apollo who had been staring at the floor, jerked his head up gazed at her in shock. "but, that does not mean that I will." She sat up in bed. "I have been married to you for five years. I thought I knew you, and I suppose I do. Those stories, " She looked up him. "they were about you. Weren't they?"
He walked over to the bed and sat beside her. "Yes. They were."
She looked at him for a moment, pulled her knees up and tucked them under her chin. "All those stories about the young vampire. His turmoil, his joy, and his love. It was all yours."
He nodded.
She sighed. "Apollo, I love you, but this is a lot to think about. You have always been so kind to me, you saved me from the hard life I had once lived and showed me that I could be loved." She smiled at him. "But, I just need to think about what I want to do."
He looked down lacing his fingers together trying to keep his composure. "I understand."
She reached up and touched his face. "I'm glad."
He smiled reaching up and touching his hand to hers. "But where will you go?"
Her smile faded and she pulled her hand away. "I wish I knew."
He looked away from her, deep in thought. "Do you," he began, "still want to go to college?"
She looked up. "Yes I do. For theater."
He smiled. "Very well. Then that is where you will go. If you should choose not to stay with me please consider it my last gift to you."
"I cannot accept that, Apollo."
He placed his hand on her cheek, pulling her face toward him. He lightly pressed his lips to hers as he stroked her hair. He pulled away, cradling her face in his hands. "Please," he started "it is important to me you get everything you want out of life."
She smiled and pulled his hands from her face. "Thank you."
***
That was four months ago today. Things are so quiet in the mansion now. Apollo no longer hears the sound of clanking dishes coming from the kitchen in the evenings or the sound of Daphne humming happily as she cleaned. The only thing he ever really hears now is the sound of his pen scratching the stationary paper as he writes to her.
He wrote of all sorts of things. He wrote of very serious things such as his meetings with the other half bloods and how the evil vampires, werewolves, and imps in the area seemed to be growing more and more restless. He also wrote of such light hearted things as the weather, the nightclub, and how quiet it was without her. He asked questions like, "How are your classes?" or "How are you feeling?". He continued to write down his life for her, stories of battles he fought and friends he lost. But what he wrote about most often was how much he missed her, how the new found silence seemed to gnaw at his insides and make him ache.
Today he wrote to her of his love, how he was waiting for her, and how the rhythm of half-dead heart beats as strong and as true for her as it had the night they first met.
..with rhythm pumping through my veins, the adrenaline giving strength to me. To my arms, my legs, my whole body, and to my soul. Cymbals crashing, sweat running down my body. The deep tone of the bass drum deafening me as I dance with you. Our hearts beating as one in tune with the music. The swinging of your hips and the feel of your arms around my neck.
He dropped his pen, tears falling from his eyes. He tried to brush them away, but they kept coming. His heart was beating so fast as if to relive that moment, that dance. He clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms.
This is not the first time his emotions took control like this since she left. Often he would succumb to fits of anger, sadness, and fear.
He reached across the table, taking hold of a large antique lamp. He whirled around and with all his might, chucked it against the study door. The lamp shattered into hundreds of pieces, all going off in different directions. For a moment, while they floated in midair, they caught the moonlight and reflected it off of their surfaces. Sparkling beautifully in the moonlight, in them he saw the sparkle of Daphne's bright blue eyes. How they used to shine when she looked at him.
It only made him more angry. He began throwing anything that was within his reach. How could she do that to me? After everything I did for her! His thoughts spun inside his head. I loved her! I spilled my heart out for her! Another lamp was shattered against the wall. "Humans!" He roared. "They are worthless!" He collapsed to the floor, tears still falling freely from his eyes.
