The Vampire's Requiem [malexmale]

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five (Newell)

I woke up with a splitting headache.

In fact, my whole body ached and the only comfort was the soft bed and Starling curled up against my back providing heat. I didn't want to open my eyes or move at all, but I could just feel the sunlight bleeding into the room, reminding me that day had come and it was time to negotiate with Vladimir to get the research-- and Hunter.

It wasn't that I cared for the man, but in a way, I owed him.

I finally forced my eyes open, immediately regretting it as toxic sunshine stung my eyes enough to make them tear up. I grimaced and shut my eyes again, burying my face down against the pillow and pulling the blanket over my head in an attempt to block the light out, but it did no good. I could feel it warming the room up. I reluctantly tossed the blankets off bed, careful not to wake Starling, not that it mattered. He slept like a rock.

I sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and looking over to see Xed sitting up and staring at the television where a cheap paid programming show was playing in place of week day cartoons. I frowned. He didn't move an inch, just sat there staring as if he were honestly interested in the product. I rolled my eyes and started to get out of bed, then paused to see a small stain on the carpet that I recognized as blood. What was that from? I looked at Xed, but there was no sign of him being injured.

I climbed out of bed, another regret as my stomach flew into my mouth and threatened to come out. I barely managed to make it to the bathroom before I vomited in the toilet, breathing hard as I lost last night's dinner. I grimaced. So there's where the stain had come from. Vladimir wasn't going to be too pleased to see that I'd stained his carpet... But then, I didn't really care what pleased the man.

I wiped my mouth on the back of my hand and showered before moving onto cleaning out my mouth. Once I was finished and dressed in my own clothes, Starling was awake and chewing happily on different meats the servants had brought up for him. A glass of blood sat on the tray for me and I drank it hungrily, watching Xed stare down at his food as if debating whether to eat it or not.

Personally would've done the same thing, as I'd learned by now that everyone was out to poison me, but I'd been too thirsty to care, and thankfully, there seemed to be no poison. Xed seemed to figure this out about his own meal and began to devour the raw meat quickly, reminding me of a vacuum cleaner.

There was a knock on the bedroom door and I sighed, walking over to answer it and finding Kristophe standing there with Claude right behind him. Claude wasn't too shy about showing his interest in Kristophe, especially with the way he was raking a hot stare over Kristophe's backside. Of course, leave it to Kristophe to be oblivious to it, or at least polite enough to ignore it as he greeted me with a respectful nod.

"Vladimir says that once you're finished with your breakfast to meet him in his study. It's the first pair of doors you see at the end of this hallway down there." He pointed to the left and I nodded my thanks before closing the door to dismiss them. I turned back to see that Xed had finished his meal and was watching Starling, who excitedly jumped up and down on his bed.

Where did he get that kind of energy?

I only wanted to lay down and sleep.

Sleep for eternity, I thought bitterly. I packed up my things and had Xed change Starling's clothes. We moved out of the bedroom and down the hallway to Vladimir's study. It was the only pair of ominous looking doors in the hallway. Dark and forebading, I opened them without a knock. Vladimir was sitting on his desk, fiddling with some kind of strangely designed chopsticks that Alexander was teaching him to use before he looked up.