The Vampire Prince's Servant

I couldn't help but feel nervous about opening the door. I hesitated for a moment, just staring at it. I took a breath and finally got my bearing together and moved towards the door. My legs were shaking when I opened it, and I'm sure that I was as pale as a ghost.
"Melody." The Prince stated. I stared at him, never looking into his eyes directly. I took in his dark appearance, and how he loomed over me. He was extremely intimidating. "I feel that I owe you an explanation." I stared at him. "Follow me." He turned and I followed, shutting the door behind me.
We walked down the long hallway in silence. I never walked beside him, always a few paces behind. I couldn't help but wonder if I was going to get hurt or something again. It wouldn't have surprised me. I had only been there a week, but it felt like years, and I had learned what to do and what not to very quickly. That didn't mean that I still wouldn't mess up every once in a while, but I sure as hell knew that I would try not to.
We came to a door and he stopped and turned around to face me. "To answer your question, no. You are not going to get hurt." He turned back to the door and opened it. I recognized it as his room immediately after he opened it. He went and sat at the end of the bed, I shut the door behind us. I stood in the middle of the room and he stared at me. My eyes looked everywhere else but him.
"Come. Sit next to me." I had need noticed it before, but he had a slight English accent. I slowly walked forward, my knees were shaking, and I was fairly certain my feet were bleeding. I still hadn't fully recovered from the loss of blood from before and I started to feel dizzy. I could feel my knees collapse underneath me. But I never felt myself hit the ground, instead I felt to strong arms encase me in their grasp.
It was at that moment that I felt my world come crashing down around me. I didn’t know what was worse, that my father hated me, or didn't care about me enough to keep me. That he probably didn't even notice that I was gone. I would never see my friends again. I would never get to fall in love, have kids, go to college, or even graduate high school! But what hurt the most, was that my father didn't care about any of that. He was so willing to give me away, not even realizing what I would miss out on just so he could get drunk more.
My body was shaking and I felt the tears roll down my face. I could feel my body being moved and the cool arms around me held me close. I grasped onto Julian's shirt and cried, and cried. I felt his hand brush my hair. It didn't occur to me before that he could be so nice.
I tried to slow my breath and my gasps of air when I was crying. I didn't want to think what would happen after this. I was feeling so embarrassed.
I pulled away from his chest for a minute. "I'm so sorry." I was wiping away the tears from my eyes when I spoke to him.
"I was actually waiting for you to break down like that." He spoke softly. I looked into his eyes for the first time and I didn't see the familiar hatred. Instead, I saw a new man. I felt like I was looking at a different person. I saw sympathy; actual feelings. "This is exactly why I need to explain."
I nodded. He started speaking again. "Yes, I am harsh. And yes, I am quite cruel, but I have to be. The other servants aren't quite smart enough to figure out how things work. Elves aren't always the brightest but they are the hardest workers." I was still sniffling, and cocked my head to the side. "I'm sure they can, but it's all they've ever known. They were born into their position. You weren't." I was still a bit confused, but nodded. "It's different for you than them. They know me better and what sets me off. It's a learning process for you." I nodded again. I was starting to understand. He was 'teaching' me the rights and wrongs. But through pain.
"That's a bit sick." I said quietly.
"How so?" He asked, intrigued.
"You're trying to teach me what sets you off by threatening my life." I spoke. I tried to keep my tone calm and cool.
"I would never let you die. No one ever has." He spoke. I could tell that he was getting irritated. I had just occurred to me that I was still curled on his lap. I suddenly got very nervous but tried to not let it show.
"I understand." I simply spoke. It would do me no good to piss him off even more.
"Good." He stated.
There was silence for a few moments. "Thank you." I whispered.
"For what?" Julian seemed puzzled.
"For telling me that." I spoke gently. "I understand you better."
"You're welcome." he said.
"I should go." I replied quickly. "I need to get ready for dinner."
"Of course." His arms dropped from my waist and I leaped off of the bed as quickly as I could. It was like I was on fire . As soon as I made it through the door, I took off my shoes and ran the rest of the way to my room.

~~~~~*~~~~~

The next few weeks were quiet. No one bothered me, and I hadn’t been beaten for a while. I went about my chores, ate, and went to bed. That was my day. Very uneventful, and there were no more talks with the Prince. I told Mattie about the day that he did though. She was surprised that I had made it out alive. I guess he doesn’t like people telling him that they didn’t approve of the way he was. Big shocker there.

The guests from before had all left, and there was silence in the castle. I still hadn’t even dared to leave, even though I knew that I was aloud, on Sundays, to go and explore, I usually used that day as one to sleep. Today though, I thought that I should get out of bed and explore.

I quickly got dressed in capri's and a short sleeved shirt, and regular tennis shoes. They were a great relief to the heels that we had to wear on a daily basis. When I made it outside, I was surprised at how peaceful it looked. The gardens were green and lush. There were glorious fountains surrounding them. And trees that towered above my head. The flowers were of all different color and size. There were birds tweeting in the air. There was a creek babbling not far off. I was in heaven. I knew where I would be on my Sundays from now on.

I walked around the gravel paths for a half hour, until I heard someone talking, and I stopped dead in my tracks. It was a voice I recognized. The Prince was speaking, but to who? Then another man’s voice came in reply, but I didn’t know who it was. I could barely make out what they were saying, but as I turned around to leave, Julian was standing in front of me.

“Eaves dropping, are we, Miss Lovett?” He roughly grabbed my wrist and glared at me. I could have sworn that a flash of red went through his eyes.

“N-no, I was just leaving, I swear.” I was trying not to shake. His grip on my wrist tightened, and I thought that at any moment I would hear a snap.

“Come with me.” He yanked my arm to the point where I thought that it was going to be taken out of its socket. It did me no good to resist his strength, but I tried anyway. I rooted my feet to the ground, but soon enough, they were being drug along with the rest of my body.

“I didn’t hear anything!” I shouted. I tried to get him to listen to me. “Read my mind… something! I swear to you that I did not listen, or hear anything.” After a second, he stopped.

“Give me your wrist.” He turned around. I put out the wrist he wasn’t holding for him so see. He took it, and put it up to his mouth. I was puzzled by what he was doing, but I stayed as calm as possible. I felt his fangs sink into my sensitive skin, and it was all I could do not to cry out in pain. After a few more seconds, it was over, and when I looked back at my wrist, there weren’t any marks.

“You’re telling the truth.” He said. I simply nodded. “Go.” He spoke through gritted teeth. I quickly ran over and back into the castle.