Nightmare

I giggled into Zacky’s chest as he hugged me closer, watching a random cartoon on TV. It had been a few days since Red had arrived at the house, but Zacky had indeed showed me that there was absolutely nothing going on between him and the other vampire. He did talk to her, but it wasn’t excessively, and I was always there with him, before he quickly whisked us away to do something else. Jimmy was right; Zacky did love me.

“Babe, are you hungry?” Zacky asked me suddenly.

“Uhm, I’m not really sure. Why?” I asked with a smile.

He shrugged. “We’re watching Scooby Doo, and I remembered that you eat just as much as him and Shaggy.”

“Are you saying I eat too much?” I faked shock.

Zacky chuckled, nuzzling my neck. “No, baby, no… you look like a Victoria’s Secret model… what guy could complain about that? I just remembered that you haven’t eaten much today.”

I shook my head. “I’m fine, Zack. I’ll eat later.”

His lips met mine and I couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, gently tugging on his metal piercing. Zacky groaned lightly, pulling me on top of him, so I was straddling him, deepening the kiss even more. We were quickly interrupted when we heard someone clearing their throat. Pulling away, we saw Red leaning against the doorframe, her eyes on us.

“Red, hey,” Zacky said, removing his hands from underneath my shirt and resting them on my hips.

“Hi Zacky, Starr,” Red smiled sweetly.

“Uh… can we help you with something?” Zacky asked, making me bite my tongue to suppress a giggle as I felt his hardness pressed against me.

“Oh, well, I wasn’t meaning to intrude or interrupt,” Her smile continued. “I was just hoping that I would be able to steal Starr away from you for a little. Just for a little girl talk.”

Zacky glanced at me and I could see the annoyance in his eyes before he nodded. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

I slid off of him, allowing him to get up, as he made sure his back was to Red.

“I guess I’ll see you in a bit?” He asked a bit hopefully, glancing down.

I followed his gaze, my lips turning up lightly in a smirk as I saw the tightening in the front of his jeans that he was referring to. “Sure,” I told him.

I saw a small, sweet smile form on his lips before he kissed me softly. “Don’t keep me waiting for too long,” he whispered before leaving the room.

I licked my lips, looking over at Red, trying to stop the smile that was on my face at Zacky’s last remark, clearing my throat lightly. Red just kept her eyes on me, observing me, watching me like she was in the process of analyzing me.

“Let’s talk in the kitchen,” Red finally said. “I’m a bit thirsty.”

I just nodded in response, feeling a bit hungry myself, following her through the door.

Johnny?—I called out in my mind.

Yeah Starr? His voice was there as usual with no delay.

Red is taking me intot he kitchen for some girl talk—I told him—Stay close?

Way ahead of you, babe, he answered back.

Once in the kitchen, Red grabbed her bottle of blood, while I settled on salad. We sat in silence, me eating, her drinking, for a while, until I was completely finished eating, before Red finally said something.

“So, Starr, tell me a little about yourself,” she said.

I shrugged. “There isn’t much to know,” I lied. “I’m the future Queen of the Underworld—that’s pretty much it.”

“Mmmm,” Red seemed to be thinking to herself, making me cautious of what she was going to say next. “You know, Starr, I’ve noticed how close you and Zacky are.”

I nodded, keeping my cool. “Yeah, I guess we’re kind of close…”

“Kind of?” Red only laughed lightly. “Starr, there’s no need to be so modest. You can speak freely around me—I want that; after all, we are friends, right?”

The glint in her eyes made me a bit nervous, even though I would never admit it or show it. There was malice in her ruby red eyes, her looks easily intending to hurt and damage.

“I see the way Zacky looks at you…” Red continued, the same smile turning into what I saw as a sadistic grin. “It’s like you’re the only girl he sees…”

I swallowed hard, not liking where this conversation was going at all. “Red, that’s very nice of you to say, but—”

“Oh, Starr, don’t even try to deny it,” she quickly cut me off. “You know that Zacky is soft for you.”

I bit the inside of my lip, thinking that Zack was usually more along the lines of being hard for me, but I kept my mouth shut.

Red smiled again, leaning against the counter a bit. “You know, I really must congratulate you, Starr. You have Zacky wrapped right around your finger… he would do anything for you… even I couldn’t get him like that when we were together.”

Again, I swallowed hard—so this was what she wanted to talk about with this little ‘girl talk’.

“I would never want Zack wrapped around my finger,” I told her. “I don’t play games with him.”

The same sickening smile grew on her face. “Oh, no, of course not… you would never play games with Zacky, you would never hurt him… ‘Cause you care about him just as much as he cares about you…”

I said nothing, keeping my composure. This was not what I wanted to be discussing with this girl. I didn’t know her, she didn’t know me; she was Zacky’s ex-lover; she should not be talking to me about this, especially when I’m supposed to be marrying Tristan in the near future.

“I do care about Zacky,” I nodded. “But I also care about Johnny, Brian, Matt, and the girls just as much. I care about all of them, each of them being very important to me.”

“Really now…” Red mused.

I watched her, awaiting her next move, when I noticed her eyes flicker to the corner of the counter top. I followed her eyes, stifling a gasp at what I saw. A black widow spider just crawled over to me, stepping onto my hand. The only thing different about this spider was the ruby red eyes it sported.

“Spiders are amazing creatures, aren’t they?” Red asked me.

I lifted my eyes to her, only nodding, feeling the very dangerous, poisonous spider crawling up my arm slowly.

“As a vampire, do you want to know what my gift is?” She asked with a smile. “I can control spiders… and that little guy is one of my favorite pets… I control him… he does whatever I want him to… I could even make him bite you right now, killing you one the spot.”

Johnny—I called out urgently in my mind—she has a black widow spider crawling on me that she’s controlling.

I know, I’m not too far away, he answered back. If she tries anything, I’ll be right there. Just stay cool, Starr, I won’t let anything happen to you.

I calmed a little with Johnny’s words, remembering to breathe.

“If you decide to kill me,” my voice was much more confident than I felt. “Then you’ll have to explain to Tristan why his queen suddenly died of spider venom.”

Red smiled. “You’re sharp, Starr, always thinking of a way to protect yourself… I like that. Reminds me of myself.”

“I’m nothing like you,” I mumbled.

“What was that?”

“I said, I’m nothing like you,” I spoke louder and clearer. “You’re a powerful vampire… all I am is a weak human,” I lied that last part, giving her a small, meek smile, feeling the spider crawl higher up until it was resting on my bare shoulder.

I saw Red smile, her fangs glinting in the light. “I really do wonder what Zacky finds so great about you…” she mused.

I swallowed the amused chuckle that was dying to break free from my lips. This was beyond pathetic.

“I mean, you said it yourself, I’m a powerful vampire, while you are nothing more than a weak human,” Red continued. “You’re just a bag of blood… what could possibly be so alluring about you to have caught Zacky’s attention as you have?”

I kept my mouth shut, more preoccupied with the arachnid on my shoulder, hoping it wouldn’t bite me.

“Unless…”

I hated the smile that grew of Red’s face. I knew this girl was up to no good when I first saw her, and she was only proving me right as the seconds passed and her mouth continued to run.

“Unless you are his blood mate,” Red finished.

I felt my blood turn to ice in my veins at her words, keeping my face expressionless. This was he second time someone had brought up me being Zacky’ blood mate; the first time was when I was with Zofie, and now Red was saying it.

“What do you mean?” I asked, acting like I knew nothing of what she spoke of.

“Starr…”

I hated the way she said my name.

“I’ve seen Zacky with many girls in the past. He was never one to be alone, if you know what I mean. He always had a girl with him, by his side… he’s known as being quite amazing amongst us ladies in the vampire world…”

Was this her attempt in making me jealous?

“But never have I seen Zacky so… in love. Like I said before, I see the way he looks at you. From what I can tell, Zacky would do anything for you… he was never like that before. So tell me, Starr, how have you managed to trap him like that? What’s your secret?”

I shook my head. “I really have no idea what you’re talking about, Red; honest.”

“So you are Zacky’s blood mate,” She nodded. “That’s so cute. But I wonder what Prince Tristan would think about this… Zacky is his most trusted friend, but little does Tristan know, Zacky’s blood mate is his future queen… that would not be an ideal conversation to have with the Prince.”

“Red, you’re wrong about that,” I lied. “Zacky isn’t… we’re not…”

I didn’t even want to say ‘blood mate’. I knew that if I said it, then it would mean that it was true. I didn’t want to believe that; at least, not yet.

“Blood mates?” She finished for me.

I nodded. “Tristan has nothing to worry about. When the fighting is done, I will take my place at his side as his queen. There is no question about that.”

Red just smirked. “Of course…” She reached over, letting the spider that was still on my shoulder crawl onto her own hand, bringing it close to her. “Well, it was nice talking to you, Starr… we should do this again. It was fun.”

I watched her walk out of the kitchen, waiting a few moments to make sure she had truly left me alone, before letting out a deep breath, leaning against the counter for support, placing a hand to my head.

“Starr?” I looked up to see Johnny walk in. “Hey Johnny.”

“Everything okay?” He asked cautiously, walking closer to me.

I nodded. “Yeah. Fine. Red scares the hell out of me, but I’m fine.”

Johnny sighed. “I was listening, hope you don’t mind.”

I shook my head no.

Don’t listen to her, babe, he told me in my mind with a smile. She’s a nut job all on her own. She was so crazy about Zack when they were together, and when he didn’t take her for his blood mate, she totally freaked, swearing she would take revenge upon him.

You think that’s what she’s working on now?—I asked.

Johnny shrugged. Wouldn’t put it past her.

So… I am Zack’s blood mate, aren’t I?—I asked.

Johnny nodded slowly. Yeah. You are, Starr. The moment you two saw each other that night when you were just a baby, you took each other’s blood. You are blood mates.