When Reality Diminishes

She lay on the bed, dwelling in the silence. It was so quite, yet somehow it was peaceful, except for the fact that a vampire could jump out on her at anytime. Yet if she thought of it like that, she also had to worry about werewolves and demons, but she was pretty sure her mind wasn’t ready for all of that at once. So pushing it all out of her head, she revelled in the silence. She doubted she would get much of it soon. But for now, now she had it.

She pulled the blanket over her and snuggled closer to the covers. It was like a shield, or as close as she could get. It lay as a protective coating on top of her, at least that was what she was telling her mind. It was like a false sense of security, but she enjoyed it anyways. Any sense of security and safety she’d enjoy.

Her eyes began to close slowly, though her body was screaming for her to stay awake. To not let her guard down no matter what, to stay alert. But her exhaustion took over and she drifted off into the first comfortable sleep in a long time.

She could feel her body wake up before it did, and it was a weird feeling. She could begin to feel her mind come into focus as she continued to lay in the warmth that was protecting her from what lay outside the door.

With a small moan on her behalf, she opened her eyes. Nothing had changed, except for the fact that it was darker than before. Her body sat up, ignoring the protests of her mind. While contemplating what to do, her stomach let out a loud sound, silencing her debate with herself.

Her feet touched the ground silently, something she was used to. When working for all previous owners, she would have to get up before them to begin the chores. And if you ever woke them up, there was usually hell to pay. Something she tried to avoid at all costs.

So far the only rule Damon had made so far was to co-operate, which surprised her. She was shocked that he hadn’t ordered her around, and threatened her a million times yet. Though he did slam her against a wall, that wasn’t much concern for her. It was like a mere bug bite compared what she had gone through. The whippings, the beatings... the blood being drawn continuously. He was actually very considerate if you compared him to other vampires, but being considerate didn’t go far with her. She had learned that all creatures down there were evil, no matter what front they put up. Damon was no different, and she despised him for what he was.

Though that was almost racist, it was fair. All the creatures down there used humans, enslaved humans, and worse. Humans didn’t do that to them, not that they could overpower them; but that was besides the point.

Damon was no different, neither were Austin and the other guys. She shook her head, trying to stop dwelling in it. Food. That was what she needed.

After making it to the door to the living room she froze. The kitchen was through the living room, through an open door in the living room which led to the dining room/kitchen.

She debated for a moment before pushing it in and walking through. Her eyes glanced around, and the few that were in there glanced up. Damon, Austin and two of the other guys were in there. Austin had a sword in his hand and seemed to be polishing it, though no matter how much polishing he did, there was still blood stained on the handle. He narrowed his eyes at her before going back to his work. Damon was sitting on the floor, a couch at his back and a table in front of him. His legs were sprawled underneath the table and he had papers and folders scattered across the table. He also had a sword on the couch behind him with polishing stuff.

The other two were cleaning up daggers and nasty looking needles that she didn’t want to know the use of. They didn’t even glance at her, but Damon did. It was more than a glance though, it was a gaze. She turned to him now before mumbling food. He stared at her for a second longer before nodding.

She rolled her eyes, it wasn’t like she was asking for his permission, she was just letting him know what she was doing. But why was she? Didn’t matter now, what mattered now was getting food.

With that thought, she turned and walked into the kitchen. It was a fair size, but not the biggest. But seeing as the house was one floor, it was good.

She opened the fridge and stared in it. Mainly, there was just drinks, some alcoholic and some not. She grabbed one of the cans of orange juice, briefly wondering how long it had been in there. But when she saw no expiry date, she let it slide. After searching for a while she decided to eat some fruit. She was surprised he had so many.

She grabbed some strawberries, kiwi, cantaloupe and watermelon. Once out she began to cut them, with a rather large knife. After cut she stepped back and twirled the knife between her fingers, staring at it as the light reflected off of it, sending shimmers into the dark corners of the room.

"Remind me to lock these up." Came Damon’s voice as he snatched the knife out of her hand. She barely stopped herself from jumping. Once sure her body language was cool and not showing weakness, she glared at him.

"A knife couldn’t kill you."

"Maybe, maybe not. But I don’t plan on finding out... or waking up with one protruding from my chest." A small smile found her lips as she thought of the knife sticking out his chest, or any vampires chest for that matter. He made a sound in his throat when he saw this. She ignored it and scooped all of her fruit into a bowl and headed for the table.

She sat down at the ‘head’ seat before beginning to devour her food. She was starved. She glanced briefly up to see Damon watching her with raised eyebrows, as if he wasn’t use to seeing a human girl eat. She ignored him though, he wasn’t her concern.

"One question," he said. But before he could ask, she spoke, after swallowing deeply.

"If I get one in return." He grimaced before sitting down across from her. He leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, his elbows resting on the table.

"Fine," he hissed, his fangs showing briefly, probably as an attempt to scare her. But she didn’t move or flinch, just started to eat her food again. "Me first. How did you get away from your previous owners?" She stared at him. That was his big question? She was tempted to give a one worded answer, but she decided against it. she wanted a detailed answer, so she would give him one, even though there wasn’t too much detail.

She chewed the rest of the food in her mouth slowly, and surprisingly, he waited. She wasn’t use to vampires being patient. Usually it was do it now or die. That’s what she was use to, she wouldn’t complain about this, though.

"I watched them for a while," she said after she swallowed. "Learned some of their moves, though I know, and I’m sure you’ve guessed, I can’t move as fast as them. It still comes in handy." She paused and he continued to stare at her. It was nerve racking, but she just stared at her fruit, not daring to look at him. "After I stole the daggers, I ran, hoping no one would see me."

"Did anyone?" She frowned.

"That’s another question." What he did next surprised her; he laughed. She stared at him, her eyes narrowed. Was he playing her? What was so humorous? Was he trying to lure her into a false sense of security? If so, it wasn’t working.

"Actually, I believe that’s a side question. So answer it." He said, after he stopped laughing. She frowned but gave in. What was the point of arguing? There was no harm in him knowing, he’d find out eventually anyways. A human girl killing a vampire, it was going to make the news big, and the vampires family would be a disgrace. Not that she cared.

"Yes, a man. I killed him." She said slowly. Damon surveyed her for a moment, as if deciphering whether to believe her or not, he seemed to though as he spoke.

"Using the daggers?" She nodded. He gave her a small nod before smiling. "Congrats, never heard of a human, let alone a female, killing a vampire. I congratulate you on that accomplishment." She didn’t know if he was joking or not, so she decided not to say anything. "Now, let me guess, your question will be why you’re bait? What you’re bait to?" She frowned, she hated when vampires guessed what she was thinking. It was too nerve racking. After she gave him a small nod, and a glare, he smiled. "Thought so. You’re lucky I’m in a good mood. Not often.

"Anyways, I’m a mut. Everyone thinks I’m a disgrace. That I can’t do shit all, but what do they know? I can beat all of them in a fight, and I’ll show you tomorrow." He paused and I waited. "Austin is also a mix. Some of the guys are, some aren’t. Most of them are pure though, but they side with us. There are also like..." he thought for a second, and it was the first time she saw actual concentration cross his face. He seemed to count on his fingers before speaking. "At least three hundred others who are in this with us."

"In what?" She asked, interrupting. He frowned, but other than that, he showed no anger for her interrupting him. She was beginning to wonder if he really was a vampire... most would have killed her by now.

"I guess you could call it a war, well, once it starts." When he stopped she frowned.

"Where do I come in?" He spoke, but not before shooting a glare. First a frown then a glare, what was next? She didn’t want to know, but part of her was curious.

"You’re the bait. The king is now in with all of your previous masters, well the ones who are still alive. Once you’re caught, you’ll be tortured then killed in the most painful methods, sounds fun, doesn’t it?" He asked with a twisted smirk. Yeah he’s a vampire. No doubt about that now. He continued. "You’re the bait. They want you, so they’ll try and get you. Of course they don’t think you’ll be able to take the guards, so you’ll only lure about... twenty max? Myself, and the others you’ve met earlier will kill them, then leave. We’ll do it all over again and again until most are dead, until they’re begging for mercy. Though part way through we’ll have to change out tactic for they’ll figure someone is operating the scam, but either way, the king won’t be all mighty anymore."

"You’re going to be king?!" She asked in shock, her eyes were probably wide, but she didn’t care about showing any emotion right now. He was nuts! The king had been the king for over five hundred years. Even she knew the history. Many armies in the past had tried to take down the king, and all of them ended up dead, or worse. She was snapped back as he let out a chuckle.

"No, I don’t plan on taking down the king or being the king. I merely plan on having... society change. Yeah, that sounds right. I want them to know that a mut, " he spat out the word with venom, "can be just as smart and strong, or more so, than a pure bread." She stared at him for a moment before something hit her.

"And if they do get me?" He smiled now, something she was beginning to hate, no matter how nice he was being to her. His fangs popped through and it sent a shiver down her spine, but she didn’t let it off.

"Then that sucks, doesn’t it?"