Black Blood

It was a while before anyone said anything again. I stared out the window, watching the scenery pass by, still amazed by the 'filter' that was apparently in place over their realm. The gears must started turning in their heads again though; I could practically hear them thinking.

"Wait," Claude said. Adrian and I turned to look at him. Claude thought over what he had to said a bit longer. "In none of the recorded histories can I recall there being written about that strange ability you seem to have acquired. He would most likely be interested in using you to cause chaos again, because of the qualities your blood has. And then that other ability of yours could take him by surprise."

Adrian and I both exchanged a glance. Adrian then tried to move further away from me as if I was about to use my power on him. I rolled my eyes and looked back over to Claude.

"Okay, that's a start," I said. "But how do you plan to confront him? Isn't it unknown where he's ended up disappearing off to?"

"How do you know about that?" Claude raised a brow.

"I told her," Adrian said. I've explained a lot of things to her. But that was before I knew she could kill me at any moment."

Claude raised his eyebrows and nodded, pursing his lips. He sighed and continued to stare ahead. Both Adrian and I watched him, waiting.

"You have a point," Claude said. "It's not like we can just drop a phone call, send a text or a letter. But there are ways to seek out those who do not wish to be found. And I plan to utilize one way."

I nodded and accepted that. There were a few more minutes of silence. I hadn't even noticed we had already reached another city; the buildings we passed had a more modern look to them rather than Victorian. We pulled into the car park of a seemingly ordinary, two-story building.

"We're here," Claude said as he put the car in park and then turned the engine off.

I looked out of the car window, staring at the unimpressive size of the building. Maybe I had been spoiled up to that point, lost in the beauty and incredible size of the other buildings I had been brought to. It just wasn't what I had been expecting.

"This is it?" I asked, raising a brow. Claude leaned over his seat to thump me on the shoulder.

"What, is this not good enough accommodation for you, your highness?" Claude mocked. I glared at him. "Not all vampires like to have their enormous wealth on display." Claude shot Adrian a look. Adrian looked about ready to dive into the front seat and tear Claude's head off with his own two hands. I knew Adrian wouldn't succeed.

"Okay, be careful with that one," I said, grabbing hold of Adrian. "I've seen the aftermath of when other vampires tried to cross him."

Adrian looked between Claude and I for a moment before deciding it wasn't worth losing his life over. He nodded and shook me off, undid his safety belt and unlocked the door, and then got out of the car.

Claude smiled and shook his head. He unlocked the rest of the doors with the press of a button on the fob, and then stepped out as well. He had my door open for me before had finished undoing my safety belt.

"Well, thank you, I guess," I said, taking his hand and allowing him to help pull me out of the car. "But I'm perfectly capable of doing things for myself."

Claude had a brow raised, as if he wasn't too sure of that. I frowned. At least the way he treated me was a bit different from the way other vampires had. I looked over to Adrian.

He had given me a nice prison to stay in, but that was all it had been: a prison. He made me feel like nothing more than a weapon, a thing. At least Claude tried to ensure I still felt human. I respected him for that.

"Shall we?" Claude said. He locked the doors once they were all shut, and then led the way to the building.

I was as ready as I ever could be. I wondered about what the other vampires would be like. Adrian and I followed Claude at a steady pace.