Bitten

We finally reached our destination after six hours in the car. The sign stated that we were in North Carolina. We were off road and in front of a mansion. On the outside, it looked a lot like a mansion from the 1970’s. On the inside, the walls were colored white and covered in black and white photos. The floor was tiled in light marble. The sound of my heels clicking on the ground echoed through the mansion, making it seem like it was completely abandoned.

Prince and King stopped me in the middle of the floor and stood on either side of me.

King raised his head up, “Aleron.”

I looked around, “I think that it’s empt-”

A man jumped down from somewhere upstairs and landed on his feet in front of us.

He raised his head and stared at me with his dark eyes.

Now, this guy definitely looked like a vampire. He had the dark curly hair, dark eyes, and the dark clothes.

I felt the need to turn and walk right out of this place. It was eerie before…now it was just plain weird.

“So,” he said, voice abrasive and low, “you’re the one who won’t die.”

I stiffened and the last word.

He crossed his arms over his chest, “And, why not?”

I closed my eyes and forced myself to continue to breathe. I wasn’t okay with all of this…but I couldn’t just run. Everyone knows I can’t outrun a vampire.

Supposedly.

I licked my lips and opened my eyes, “I wouldn’t know.”

I noticed that the twins were standing at attention as if they were in the military.

I pursed my lips when a familiar face appeared around a corner.

Aleron looked back, “Hello, Demetrius.”

“I thought I told you to call me Demetri,” he said, fake pouting, “Demetrius makes me sound old.”

“You’re two hundred years old,” Aleron stated blankly, “You are old.”

Demetri gave him a look that I couldn’t quite place.

King hit me in the side, making me tear my eyes away from Demetri and back to Aleron.

Aleron looked back at me, “This is Demetrius.”

“Demetri,” he corrected, “And she knows who I am. We met already. Haven’t we, Kaori?”

Aleron’s eyes narrowed slightly. A few moments passed and he closed the space in between us. He glowered down at me, “So…you know my son?”

…son?

Did he say son?

I nodded once.

“There will be no more nodding, child. You are to address me as though I’m your master. And, for the next month, that’s exactly what I am. You will say yes, sir. No, sir. Unless you feel the need to say yes or no, master. You will address every vampire by sir or ma’am. Do I make myself clear?”

I narrowed my eyes slightly, “Just because you can suck my blood, does not mean you are superior to me.”

Anger flashed across his face. He raised his hand to slap me, waiting for me to react. When I didn’t even flinch, he lowered his hand. Annoyance was etched all over his face. All I could do was stare at him, trying not to show too much fear.

Aleron searched me, “Prince, King, you two can go to your rooms. Demetrius, I want you to take her to hers.”

King stiffened for a moment before following orders. Prince followed suit, but gave me a look that told me that I was not to talk to Demetri unless I completely had to.

I gave him a light nod and watched him disappear around a corner.

Aleron turned and walked away, “We’re going to have a problem if you don’t follow orders, Kaori. I’ll let that one slide, but don’t expect me to always be this lenient.”

He disappeared around a corner, leaving Demetri and I alone. He watched me look around, trying to get a feel of the place. If I could figure out where the twins were sleeping, I could get them and we could get out of this place.

“Don’t think too hard about it,” Demetri said, smiling, “You won’t be able to escape. Come here.”

I walked over to him slowly, still searching for other ways to get out. He may not believe that I can leave, but I believed that I could. I know it could get difficult…but that is the one goal that I will achieve before the end of the month.

He touched my face gently and looked into my eyes. He looked down to my lips, and then back up to my eyes.

I kept my eyes locked on his.

“You know,” he said softly, leaning in closer, “I understand why the twins have feelings towards you. I’m hoping that your little attitude won’t get you killed. I’d like to get to know you.”

‘He will use you over and over again…and falling for his ‘charm’ won’t help either.’ King’s voice echoed through my mind.

I remained silent.

Demetri grabbed my bags off of my shoulder and linked his fingers in between my own. He then pulled me through the mansion, up a flight of winding stairs, and opened a door.

The room was painted crimson red and the floor was covered in black carpet. I cleared my throat and walked in, searching the room. The bed was a king sized bed covered in black silk sheets. The dresser next to the bed was white.

The only weird thing about this room was the fact that it didn’t have a window.

I looked back at Demetri.

He stared at the wall where the window should be, “This room was altered just for our humans. We don’t want you to escape.”

“Are there more humans here,” I asked silently.

At the sound of my voice, he looked at me, “No. This is where we normally feed.”

I took a step away from him.

He laughed, “No, no, no. It’s okay. We just don’t have any other room for you. Every room here is filled.”

…this is a mansion…

And all the rooms are filled…?

I looked past him, “So…there are a lot of vampires that live here?”

He nodded.

I felt my knees begin to get weak. If this was the feeding room, and I was the only human here…

I collapsed.

Demetri walked over to me and knelt down. He lifted my chin up and smiled kindly, “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

I slapped his hand away, “Sorry, sir…but I don’t trust your kind. Get out.”

He stood slowly, gave me one last once-over, and walked out. I stared blankly out the open door, waiting for one of the twins to come around the corner. When they didn’t, I stood and silently walked over to the doorway and peered outside.

“Who do we have here,” a snickering voice asked from down the hall.

I whipped my head around and looked down the hallway. There was a platinum blonde haired girl standing there, arms crossed and silver eyes hungry.

I held my breath.

“You’re a human,” she stated, uncrossing her arms, “I can smell you from a mile away. Well…not really you. I can smell your AB negative blood, that’s for sure. You have some rare blood, babe. And it just happens to be my favorite.”

I backed away slowly as she began to walk towards me. I noticed that I was just backing myself into a corner. But I couldn’t just sprint out of my room. She’d chase me. I barely know this place…she lives here.

She appeared at my doorway. Her eyes searched me before they locked with mine.

She pounced and had me pinned on the floor in a moment. She smiled, “I see someone has already gotten to you. Who was it? Rodolfo? Lavi? Maria?”

I shook my head quickly, “Prince and King.”

Her eyes widened, “King’s here?”

I nodded.

“Well,” her lip pulled upwards slightly, “I’ll make this quick then.”

“Dusk,” a voice hissed through the doorway, “Get off of her.”

She flipped her head in the voice’s direction. Her body loosened, “King, Prince, it’s good to see you again.”

She stood up and walked over to King. She pulled him to her and forced her lips up against his. He stared at her for a moment before he glanced over to meet my eyes.

I sat up slowly and forced myself to tear my eyes away. I looked over at Prince, who had his eyes locked on the far wall, obviously discomfited.

When Dusk was done thoroughly violating King’s mouth, she smiled at him, “I’ve missed you! So, you’ve been wasting your time with a mortal like her? She’s not even pretty.”

I glared at her.

King took a deep breath, “Dusk…don’t go down that road.”

She pointed at me, but kept her eyes locked on his, “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen for her? King…come on. Kaori” – she looked over at me – “don’t try anything with him. He’s taken.”

I raised my eyebrows, but didn’t say anything. I knew better than to say something at a time like this. The sad look in King’s eyes didn’t allow me believe that he was too excited about the announcement.

King looked at me, “Dusk…give me some time with Kaori.”

“Alone,” she asked, looking back at him.

He glared at her, “Alone. Get out. Both of you.”

She glared back for a moment before she huffed and walked out the door. Prince followed suit silently. When the door shut, King crossed his arms and let out a loud sigh.

I watched him, waiting for answers. I honestly didn’t know why I wanted answers so bad. It seemed as though she wasn’t the one he really wanted to be kissing. The despondent look in his eyes as he allowed her to kiss him told me that much.

He closed his eyes, “That was Dusk. She has a little bit of an obsession with AB negative blood. And since it’s so rare, she gets really excited when she smells it. She-”

“What are you two,” I asked quickly, “I mean, what are you to each other?”

A sad smile formed on his lips, “We’re supposed to be dating. Our parents are old-fashioned. They like the whole ‘arranged marriage’ thing.”

“You’re engaged,” I asked, widening my eyes.

He laughed and opened his eyes again, “No, not yet. They want us to get married. She’s not really my type. And I plan to explain that to my parents during dinner.”

I nodded once. So, he was engaged and dating someone? Well, that’s something that I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t think that anyone would want to date someone like him. But, of course, they’re all vampires here. I didn’t expect him to just hang around single his whole life. And someone had to find him attractive.

My body went cold when I realized what he said.

He was planning on explaining that to his parents during dinner…?

I looked at him.

Was I going to meet his parents?