Black Blood

The meal had been huge, but I had eaten most of it anyway. It had been delicious, and I hadn't wanted to offend my 'hosts.' After that I was brought several different articles of clothing, and guided over to the bathroom by one of the maids. I hadn't seen Adrian since he had left to give orders earlier, not that I wanted to see him.

I was told to head straight to bed after the shower, handed a night gown, and then told someone would be there to wake me in the morning. The maid took her leave, and I was left alone with my thoughts.

I showered quickly, dried myself off, and dressed. I found a digital clock at the bedside table, and another clock on the wall. Both read 2 in the morning. I frowned; how much sleep would I manage to get with that?

I wondered again about Claude as I climbed into bed. What was he doing then? Was he looking for me? I recalled how he had wanted to bring me before some sort of vampire council. They would end up using me for the same thing, no doubt. I would still die.

I drifted, and remembered Claude saying something about me being able to get back to my normal life after all this. Had he actually meant that?

I bolted upright, and nearly punched the maid in the face when she shook me awake. She held her hands up to her face and took several steps back, shrieking in fear. My heart pounded fiercely in my ears from the adrenaline.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I said over and over, waving my arms about. She stopped trembling at the very least, but that didn't quell the guilt I was feeling. "I'm so sorry. I'm not usually violent like that, it's just been- a stressful couple of days."

The maid let her hands fall back from her face, folding them together in front of her small frame. She gave a deep bow and then rose again.

After clearing her throat she said, "Breakfast will be soon. Master Adrian requests you dress and then join him." A heavy French accent laced her words.

It was then that I noticed the sunlight streaming in through the window; illuminating the maid's pretty pale face.

"Sunlight-" I started, but cut myself off. The maid gave me a puzzled look. "Vampires can't be out in the sun?" I wasn't awake enough to phrase the question any other way. She brought a hand up to her mouth and giggled.

"Here, there is like a- filter, over the sky," she said. She made her way over to the window, pulling the curtains open fully. She smiled widely as she gazed out, and I admired her profile until she turned to me again. "The sun cannot harm vampires here."

She bowed again, and turned to leave. I watched her go and then looked over to the newly-stocked wardrobe. Time to get dressed.

There were dresses, lots of dresses, but thankfully there were jeans and t-shirts too. I threw on a pair of jeans and a random shirt, and pulled my shoes back on. I walked over to the mirror and ran a brush through my red waves. It took quite a while, and I gave up at one point when I thought my hair looked decent enough.

It wasn't that I wanted to look nice for the vampires. I just wanted some form of normalcy back in my life, and brushing out my unruly hair was it for now. I looked at the clock; 9 in the morning.

Another maid knocked at the door, there to lead me off to breakfast. I smiled politely and followed her down the stairs.

The dining room was unnecessarily large. The set table was huge, but even after that there was an unnecessary amount of space left to fill. I wondered about the history of the home, but quickly forgot about things like that when I saw Adrian at the head of the table.

The first thing I blurted out of course, was, "Vampires can eat normal food?"

"Yes," he said after a brief fit of laughter. He cleared his throat. "We don't have to eat as often as you. But in order to stop ourselves from turning into living skeletons, it is necessary."

I had a flashback to when I was first abducted. A lot of the vampires I had seen were on the wiry side. I had just assumed that it was genetics, or a vampire thing.

The smile dropped from Adrian's face then. He gestured to the seat next to him.

"Come, join me," he said. "Eat. And then we will discuss our next move."

I did as he said, though the maid followed me around the table to assist with my chair. I tried to wave her off, but she insisted. I gave her a sheepish smile as she started serving food onto the plates in front of me.

"So, our next move?" I asked Adrian. The smile came back to his face, only that time it was more of a sinister grin. I shrank back a little in my chair.

"We need to catch the attention of Edward Blackblood," he said. "We need to contact him and tell him that we have you- tell him just exactly what you are. One way or another, we'll get him to drink your blood, and put an end to that fool's existence."

I chewed my lip, looking down at the food. The plan sounded nearly solid enough, but there were a few flaws.

"How are you going to get him to drink my blood?" I asked. "What if he doesn't even care that you're holding me captive?"

"You're a Blackblood, he's going to care," Adrian said. He frowned though as he thought. "Getting him to drink your blood is the tricky part. As long as we don't tell him what you're capable of, it should be fine."

He nodded as he set his silverware down, downing the glass of a thick, red liquid he had set before him. He stood up from the table then.

"I will see you later in the afternoon, I have much to attend to," he said. "Enjoy your meal."

I was left alone with the maid then. I smiled at her again, then returned my attention to the food before me and groaned.