The Dark Secret of the CEO by Sofia de Orellana

“…So this isn’t a dream,” I mutter.

“No, Dear, it’s not. You’re very much awake.”

“But I’m… dead.”

“Yes, and no. You’re not like any human anymore. It will take time, but you shall get used to it, eventually. We will teach you everything you need to know as one of our own.”

“Like… what?” I mutter. “I can’t… Sir, I’m…”

“Richard,” he smiles. “You can call me Richard.”

There’s a hint of amusement in his tone, but this is also a real thing. He is giving me permission to call him by his name, a permission I wasn’t sure I had before… It’s like meeting a very old person, and not being sure how familiar you can get with them. Richard’s been… strangely nice to me so far, but it makes me all the more confused. I nod faintly.

“It’s alright to be a bit confused at first,” he continues. “But worry not, Dear. All the answers will come, and… as it so happens, you’ll have all the time you need to get the answers.”

“Do you mean I’m… immortal or something?”

“No, you’re not. But… If you listen to me, and avoid trouble, you will get to live a very, very long time.”

I hesitate. I don’t feel immortal, that’s for sure, but I feel… different. I’m aware the fresh cuts on my wrists should still be bleeding, not already fading into thin scars like they are now. My skin looks a bit different too. It’s hard to notice in the night-blue darkness of the plane, but it seems a couple of shades paler. My veins are slightly more visible, and… wait. The darkness of the plane? I glance up. The lights have been off all along. We’re in the dark, but I can see… perfectly fine.

“Did you notice?” Richard smiles. “Night vision. We tend to forget, but it is quite useful, isn’t it? You’ve become a creature of darkness now, Darling.”

“I am going to grow… claws and fangs?” I scoff.

“Only the fangs,” he chuckles. “The claws are more of an… aesthetical choice.”

His fangs aren’t so obvious that they’d trigger much suspicion, either. In fact, it’s hard enough to look him in the eye as it is, I wouldn’t mind his longer-than-normal canines otherwise… Perhaps it’s a reflex, but he also doesn’t open his mouth enough that I’d see it much either. I try to look for mine with my tongue. I don’t know if they’ve really grown, but my canines do feel sharper… pointier. I wonder what else has changed…

“Then… what?”

“It will come with time,” he said. “Like I said, we’ve got time. Your senses will be what you should listen and follow from now on, Hera. Only your senses. You’ll see that everything is different, when you’re different.”

“That name… Why are you calling me that?” I frown.

“Because you cannot be June anymore,” he says. “You’ve been reborn, child. And especially because you were born in such times, your new life will need to start under a new name, a new identity.”

I do guess it will be hard for me to appear as “June Starr” again… Millions of people knew my name, my face. How am I going to ever be able to step out again? I’m supposed to be dead… I can change my name, but can I really change enough that no one will recognize me? Judging from his attitude, Richard already has something in mind. Taking me to a different continent is probably just the start.

“…Why Hera, though?” I ask. “You could have… let me pick a new name myself.”

“No child chooses their own name.”

That’s a rule for babies, but I’m a full-grown twenty-five year old…

“You don’t like it?”

hate it,” I shrug.

I’ve hated my first name, June, basically all my life. Still, because I was a child celebrity, the daughter of the famous Starr Family, it stuck to me like a tattoo I couldn’t get rid of no matter how I tried. Most people hate their name because it doesn’t sound good to them, or because it relates to something stupid,

you know who Hera is?”

a Greek

of the Greek Gods… and her Roman name is

bit overwhelming, in fact. Hera Heartgraves… It does sound good, maybe a bit pretentious, but

aware my opinion

from the media, and to get familiar

will be more challenging than becoming a… a vampire? I try to take a breath, but it feels unnatural. Well, at least I’m a bit confident in my adaptation skills. I am… I mean, was an actress after all. Damn, what

you?”

should have started with

vampire,” he

much about vampires but that sounds awfully vague,” I groan, a new

much,” he says, sipping his wine. “You’ll have trouble meeting vampires as

no idea how I’m supposed to identify “old” vampires, when Richard looks like he could barely be

did you choose to turn me?” I frown. “Are you a

a couple of your

taste then,”

he saw… They were probably just as joyfully torn

acting skills were

He takes his cane, his long fingers slowly moving along the Lion’s mane. I don’t answer; I’m the type who just gets clueless and

what… you were just passing by and decided

that,” he

had, he’s not telling me. Perhaps it was pity or something…

sick?”

Like… You die and bam, you’re reborn and everything’s fine, glowing skin and all? What the heck is this feeling like all my organs hate

difficult changes,” explains Richard. “The transformation differs for each individual. Some have it

all at the same time. I feel feverish, but I can’t feel the cold, it’s a weird sensation. What the heck did I do in my

suddenly worry. “Can I… just die again, or

“No. You’ll survive.”

else to ask. It’s hard to ignore the nausea, but at least when we talk, I’ve got something else to focus

“Why England?” I groan.

home. It really bothers you, doesn’t it?” He squints his ice-blue eyes at

him, shocked.

are of no concern to me,” he said. “I’m just curious why you were so adamant to lie about so many things of your past.

I sigh.

some stuff I didn’t want to deal with. People were always trying to dig around

“Including your mother?”

For a woman

about my

made the headlines for a while,” he simply says. “Her

a sensational story at the time, enough to make the headlines on every continent… I didn’t think my own death would be the same,