Time-Bomb

Welcome to the Show

Chapter One

     "Mine." He growled, lips at the crook of my neck. I was as stiff as a board, not wanting to move. What if this was a trick, and I wasn't his mate. What if this was an elaborate plot to kill me? I have had too many bad experiences with vampires to fall for this shit.

      "Ohm, yeah, that's great and all your highness." I gulped. He pulled back and his light eyes grew a bit darker. A deeper growl began in his chest and made its way to his throat.

     "As my future wife, you will call me as my given name, and you will not address me as some commoner would. You're a princess now, soon to be queen, you will not lower yourself to any standards." He sniffed. I bit my lip as I almost countered him, but I kind of want to live a bit longer than he intends. He began to drag me through the party, both of our masks falling to the ground, people beginning to make way for us. I was stared at like a zoo animal. The males were kind of shocked and intrigued, also a little indifferent all the same. The girls Zeke tended to pick up always ended up dead. The females stared on with envy. My dress wasn't grand; I obviously didn't have enough money to begin with; I was lucky enough to scrape up enough money to go find this dress in the thrift shop. I made a few alterations and added a few things here and there. The glittering stones along the bodice were not easy to put on. My fingers barely healed properly from applying so many. They were slightly bruised now as opposed to the swollen, bruised, bloody mess they were after all was said and done.

     Zeke helped me down the stairs, holding onto my arm so I didn't fall as I kept up with his quick pace. His hand was freezing, but it gave a jolt through my body as soon as he touched me. Maybe he was telling the truth and there was going to be a lot of blood in my life. At the end of the stairs was a sleek limo waiting, he opened the door for me and waited until I was safely inside, helping me lift my dress into the car so It wouldn't be left outside the door or stepped on.

     "How does it feel being a princess?" He asked after a long while of staring out the window longingly. The quiet drum of the beat from whatever dumb pop song playing on the radio sounded in the background.

     "I don't know yet. Where are we going anyway?" I asked, the trees had begun to appear in abundance, which is quite worrisome since I reside in the city.

     "To the castle of course! Your new home, you have to get settled in right away." He gave a rather big smile and a gentle squeeze to my frozen hand he was holding.

     "So...this isn't a joke? I'm not going to die?" I squeaked, pulling my hand back and sliding it between my legs to try and warm it up a bit. Zeke bit back a laugh and assured me that I was very well going to live to see another day until the wedding day where I would join him as a vampire. So very comforting, am I right? I snorted and Zeke almost said something about it, but the destination was before us and it was time to show me around the huge place although I would only spend any real time in a select few locations.

     The door was opened and again I was helped out. There were formalities exchanged between the driver and myself, as he would specifically cater to the prince and I. I was then lead through the large double doors, a grand foyer with a set of winding stairs. There was a door underneath the staircase showing a larger room, more of a sitting room per say. From there it leads to a dining room and kitchen (that thankfully had an elevator). There was a half bath in the kitchen for the cooks and such. Connected to the living room was a small hallway with two guest rooms with joint bathrooms. Through the dining room was the backyard, but before the yard the patio was quite large. Parked to the left of the stairs was a small golf cart cabbie to get around the even bigger yard. Once the basics of the first floor had been observed and commented on its grandiose appearance; upstairs began. The prince thankfully lived alone, but it just made the house even more lonely. There were various cooks and maids that which weren't really necessary, but at this point them seemed to be there for the company. I suppose now that I'm here the cooks will get more opportunities to work. That makes me in particular very happy, as money is a necessity and hard to come by. There was a large library which held my attention for a rather long amount of time. I love to read, and it seems that Zeke does as well. It is a major plus in this whole mate situation. There was a small bathroom connected to that as well. There were 2 more guest rooms upstairs, more opulent than the ones downstairs, but I didn't say anything. Lastly, Zekes room. It was a large suite. It was very open and inviting and it was safe to say it was my favorite room. All the rooms had large bathrooms and closets, but this one took the cake. The tub was big enough to swim in. the shower one of those that which the stream of water hits from all around. The toilet was nice, I mean it was a toilet; the sink was a gold plated couple sink, one side occupied. The other empty.

     "We can go shopping tomorrow if you'd like, or even just send someone to go buy you things." Zeke sounded almost sheepish. It was rather cute in the whole 'I can kill you' kind of way. I just smiled and looked around.

     "So, what room am I staying in?" Zeke stared at me, then began to laugh once again.

    "Well I was hoping in here with me." He wiped away a fake tear and put an arm around my waist.

    "Can we please get one thing straight? I'm not the type of person to just share a bed like that. I just met you. YES, we are mates. But I would feel better if we got to know each other first. Reach a threshold where we are comfortable with each other. We obviously will be married eventually. But it would be nice to go at it in a way where we are sound in everything and not rushing. So many of the couples that get together at the mating ball rush into everything. The girls are sluts and for the most part are not even faithful to their mates. It causes problems faking being in love. And I'm not here for your money; I am quite in need don't get me wrong. But it's not what I'm here for." I took a deep breath after my small speech, looking at my feet, suddenly feeling rather shy.

     "That's perfectly fine with me, I understand completely. Although, the marriage bit may have to be sped up a bit due to the fact as I will soon have to assume the throne with a queen at my side." Zeke smiled cheekily, if he could have blushed he probably would have. I nodded along, that must have been the whole purpose of going to the mating ball. I was unable to attend the last few due to a sickness that which kept me in the hospital for a short while. And before that I was too young to attend. The age for attendance being 16. One is held annually every year; this being a short time after my 18th birthday. My mother and father sent a daughter before me, and she was married to a noble. Our family gained a small sum of money but it was wasted when Jess and her husband Nick had gone on a small spending spree, unbeknownst to my family. So we fell back into being fish barely above water.

     "Normally, how this story would go, is we would hate each other, tons of fights. Etc." I smirked a bit. "This is awesome." I grinned widely. "The names Lyric Thomas, pleased to meet you your highness." I held out a hand for him to shake and laughed a bit.