Bitten

After King had kissed me, I didn’t get much sleep. Heck, I still had the taste of mint in my mouth from brushing my teeth last night.

I couldn’t quite place the feeling that I got afterwards. I knew that I had kissed back…and I couldn’t really understand why I would do that either. The only thing I could think was that I felt bad for him so I just let him…

But that didn’t explain my body tingling and the butterflies in my stomach.

I covered my face with my hands and groaned.

“What seems to be the problem?”

I sat up quickly, only to be directly in front of Demetri. He was standing on the foot of bed, knelt down so his face was inches away from mine.

I cringed and slid myself backwards.

He smiled slightly, reminding me of the smile that he had on his face when King got in trouble for something he didn’t do.

He scooted forward, pushed me down gently, and straddled me.

“Please get off,” I said, “I’m…I have morning breath.”

“No you don’t,” he said softly, “You didn’t sleep last night…so your breath smells exactly like it did when you went to bed.”

He took his hands and slid them down my arms. He bent down farther, making his lips centimeters above my own. I didn’t know what to do. I tried to lift my hands to slap him away, but he had my wrists pinned to the bed.

“Demetri,” I said, trying to move.

He put his lips by my ear, “Quit struggling. When I said you’re mine…I meant it.”

“What do you mean,” I asked, completely intoxicated by the smell of soap on his body.

I could hear the smile in his voice, “You’re my
new toy…now, it’d be in your best interest to play along. I don’t like it when my toys go bad.”

I shook. The images of what happened to King flashed in my mind and I went completely numb. If Demetri were capable of killing another vampire, he wouldn’t hesitate to break my neck. But what was I supposed to do? I didn’t want him to “play” with me. That’s definitely not on my list of the things I want to do before I die.

“Demetri.”

His head shot up, but he didn’t look at the person, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I’ve told you before,” the voice said, “She’s my prey. She has nothing to do with you. And I’d really enjoy it if you’d get your nasty body off of hers.”

A wicked smile set upon Demetri’s face, “Now, King…are you implying that this girl is still pure?”

I widened my eyes.

Demetri was flung across the room. He landed on his feet and stared over at King with narrowed eyes, “Are you sure you want to do this, King? I don’t think Crimson would mind throwing you back into isolation. Especially if there’s another fatality.”

I stood up, “Quit threatening him with his own father.”

A smile stretched across his face, “Then you better play along, baby…because, until you leave here…you’re my little sex toy.”

I stared at him. If that kept King from going back into isolation, then it had to be done.

King growled, “Kaori, you don’t have to do this.”

“She does if she cares about you,” he said back. He lifted his hand and reached it out to me, “Come here.”

I couldn’t quite force myself to move forward. He scared me. I knew there was more to him than meets the eye. And I knew that Demetri and the twins have had more of a past than what King let me see. But I couldn’t let Demetri do anything else to hurt King.

My feet began to move towards Demetri. When I reached him, he grabbed my hips and turned me around. He pulled me against him and rubbed his nose on the nape of my neck.

King’s eyes narrowed.

“Good girl,” Demetri murmured. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and raised his head.

I felt my lip quiver.

“We’ll have to make up that contract,” he said, “But for now…this will have to do.”

His fangs dig deep into my neck and I screamed out in pain.

King’s face twisted into something that looked like a mix of hatred and worry.

I clenched my eyes shut as some sort of liquid went into my neck.

He pulled out and I fell to my knees. My whole body was throbbing.

“You just made a huge mistake,” King hissed when Demetri had left the room.

I looked up at him from the floor, “I did that for you. Don’t forget that next time you want to hurt me.”

And, with that, I blacked out.

When I came to, I was on my bed. My body was still weak from whatever Demetri had put into me. The taste of bile scorched my tongue, and I swallowed it down, gagging.

“How are you feeling?”

I almost jumped off the bed when I saw King sitting next to me in the bed.

He looked at me, impatient.

“I’m okay,” I lied.

“Don’t lie to me,” his lip quirked upwards slightly, “I don’t like liars.”

I closed my eyes again, “Then why ask if you know the answer?”

A few seconds ticked by before he gave me his answer, “I just want to hear you say it. I know what he did to you…and it’ll be blatantly obvious when you look in a mirror.”

I opened my eyes and sat up. What in the world did that mean?

He lifted up a mirror and I stared at myself. A small black spider was tattooed onto my neck where the holes should have been.

I stared at it, completely confused, “Is that a tattoo?”

“Kind of,” he said, lowering the mirror, making me look at him. His eyes were soft, showing a hint of regret, “It’ll go away in time. But, that’s there to show that you’re his and no one else’s. You have to do what he tells you to do…act the way he wants you to…it’ll fade away when you sign the contract. And I’m here to tell you not to.”

I blink at him. That’s completely unbelievable. If this thing will only go away when I sign something, then I’m signing it. My parents would kill me if they thought I had a tattoo. And, if they knew that it meant that I was someone’s...’toy’…I’d definitely be killed.

I ran my fingers through my hair and sighed, “I have to, King.”

“I don’t think you understand,” Price appeared at the door, “He is a sadist, Kaori…”

I glared at him, “I don’t think you understand. Can’t either of you see that I’m doing this for a good cause? I’d do it for either of you if it came down to it! I care about you guys!”

“And what brought this on,” Prince asked.

King groaned, “She saw a part of my past…figured I should have kept her out of my mind.”

Prince stiffened, “She what?”

They shared a look that I couldn’t quite place and Prince dug the heels of his hands into his eyes. He threw his hands down, glared at us, and walked out. King looked back at me.

I stared at him. His whole posture has changed. He seemed to be more on edge now…

And that scared me.

He ordered me to lie down, and I did as commanded. He fell to his side and told me to close my eyes.

I did.

And I was transported into his mind again.

I opened my eyes to see Prince and King in front of their father, bowing down. Their father’s eyes were narrowed. Hatred was illuminating off every inch of his body…and the tension in the air was almost too much.

I walked over and stood next to Prince.

Crimson stared down at his sons, “I thought I told you two to keep it a secret. I thought I told you to lie low. But, instead, you two find this girl and expose our secret without even looking into her medical records. There has to be something in there that lets you know why she won’t die. And now she’s a threat.”

My heart dropped.

This was this morning…

King sighed, “Yes…I’m sorry, father.”

“I don’t want you telling her anything about your guys’ past. I want that to be a secret. Especially you, King. I don’t want her knowing what had happened to you in the past.”

King tensed.

Prince looked up at his father. Crimson brought his leg back and kicked his son in the face, causing him to fall backwards.

“I did not tell you that you could look at me,” Crimson growled.

I knelt down next to Prince and touched his shoulder. My hand went right through him, making me bring my hand back in fear. I was a ghost in this world. I couldn’t comfort him…

I glared back at Crimson.

King stood and put his right hand over his heart.

Prince wiped the blood off of his face and stood. He put his hand over his heart and they both bowed their heads simultaneously.

Crimson looked at his two sons, “Now…King…”

King looked up.

When they locked eyes, Crimson’s mouth twitched in aggravation, but he didn’t make any move to hurt his son. Instead, he put his hand on King’s shoulder and stared at him, “I think your love for her is going to be a problem.”

“I don’t love her,” King said flatly.

Prince kept his head down, but he clenched his fist by his side.

Crimson smirked, “Then you wouldn’t mind breaking her neck?”

My eyes widened and I rushed over to King’s side. I stared up at him. When I saw his wide eyes, I knew he wasn’t going to do anything of the sort.

“That’s what I thought,” Crimson said, lips tightening into a straight line, “Demetri is up checking on her now…”

King’s face reddened in annoyance, “May I go?”

Crimson nodded once and King sprinted out of the room.

And that’s when I was pulled out of the vision.

I looked at King. He watched me, waiting for me to say something. When I didn’t, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

I wanted to explain that I wasn’t a threat to them. I’ve kept their secret for this long…what good will it do if I go and tell people now? No one would believe me anyway. These people are vampires.

King looked back and forth between my eyes, “I wasn’t supposed to show you my past…but by the time that he said that, it had already been done. And, while he was talking to us, Demetri was up here. And now you have that.”

He motioned towards my neck.

I sighed, “This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes it is,” he laughed, “It’s both mine and Prince’s fault. If we hadn’t come into your life, then this whole thing would have never happened.”

I pursed my lips. That actually was true…but the past was the past. I couldn’t go back, they couldn’t go back, no one can go back. The past is unchangeable and forms and shapes people into who they are today. I will not regret my past. So they shouldn’t either.

I cleared my throat, “King. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine.”

Demetri walked in and crossed his arms over his chest, “I don’t think so, babe. You’re about to become completely miserable. Michelangelo, Sebastian…come in here.”

The blonde and the brunette from yesterday walked in with smirks set upon their faces.

King stood slowly.

“Get out,” Demetri ordered King.

He looked back at me, and I nodded once at him for reassurance, even though I was afraid for my life. He scanned me and walked out.

The brunette shut the door.

“Get naked,” Demetri said, a wicked sneer now set upon his face.