Captured To Become A Vampire Prince's Bride {Book 2}

Captured To Become A Vampire Prince's Bride {Book 2}: Chapter 5

Arriving at Harenam Bay was, ironically, a sight since I barely see my own hands in front of my face. It was so foggy- well I couldn't see anyway, everyone else was fine. They all had their "vampire vision" and were "hypersensitive to their surroundings". Meanwhile, I had Leyton hooked on to my arm leading me to the car that would drive us to the helipad because I was blind as a bat.

I could do everything to the bay; hear it, feel it, smell it, touch it, but I couldn't see. When I got off the docks, I could hear the soft lapping water and the fishy smells coming from the sea, even the mild damp odour from the sand. But I couldn't see. Last time I was here before I got sent away, it looked so beautiful sight with the moon projecting its light onto the docks and black sea.

Upon arriving, I had been given a filter (which I had to keep adjusting) to wear since the smoke from buildings in the city blew this way and could damage my lungs if I inhaled too much. It was put on my lower face and stayed attached with some kind of suction, I didn't really listen to the scientific explanation. It made me wonder how bad everything really was across the shore, how everyone was holding up.

In the car, although the fog lights were on their brightest possible setting, they just wouldn't cut it. After a while, we had to stop driving and wait for the winds to change direction so the smoke and fog would clear up to improve visibility unless we wanted to walk to the helipad. Even then, the helicopter wouldn't be able to fly in these conditions. So, unfortunately, we had to park up on a roadside and wait it out.

Apart from it being humid, the air had a tense feeling to it also. We had four security guards with us: one upfront with the driver, one on either side of me in the middle, and one beside Leyton at the back, just in case something happened on the way back to the castle. They had stoic expressions on their faces and barely moved, it was like we were the criminals here.

I glanced at Leyton through the rearview mirror and he wiggled his eyebrows at me in hopes to maybe make me smile. All I could do was do it right back.

Outside of the car, the wooded area we had parked next to was no longer visible; the smoke was so bad it was like we were parked in a cloud. The smoke outside appeared still but it was moving, a lot. Now all I could do was stare at my hands as no one uttered a word and I didn't quite know what to say or ask.

I decided to get some shut-eye to make the time go by faster, as no one was sure how long we'd be sat idly.

As I awoke from a dreamless sleep (something I hadn't had in weeks) my eyes slowly adjusted to whatever light that managed to make it through the smoke. It seemed that it had started to seep into the car too, it made my eyes itch a little, and I could smell it, even through the filter. Leyton was sat beside me now, and the guards were stood outside of the car: one in front, two on the sides and one at the back. They were all armed and ready, maybe because the smoke hadn't got any better and we'd been idle for a while.

"Are we there yet?" I asked groggily.

Leyton put a finger to his lips, signalling for me to be quiet and shook his head. He then ducked down and signalled for me to do the same. I cocked a brow at him but did it nonetheless. He took out his phone and typed:

There are some guys patrolling around here, they have guns, and they're not from here. So they're likely from Drecott and dangerous. The smoke is keeping us from their sight and smell, but if they hear us, they'll find us.

I nodded slowly, although my heart felt like it would burst right out of my chest if it continued pounding the way it was. I'm sure Leyton could hear it, hell, I'd have been surprised if the driver and guards outside couldn't hear it.

He began to type on the phone again:

Wanna know how we know they're there even with the smoke?

Once again I nodded and waited for the ashy brown-haired man to finish typing, and while I was waiting, my heart race only picked up again. All I could hear was the blood pumping in my ears, the breathing of the two other bodies in the vehicle and taps of Leyton's fingers on the phone screen.

Leyton finally finished his essay or whatever he was writing and handed me the phone:

Notice how the security guards are wearing filters too, except me and the driver? Their filter works in a similar way to yours, so only clean air gets into their noses, as well as non-hazardous gases. The guards can smell the guys perfectly fine, and know everything they're carrying, even the direction they're walking in. They've been trained since they were kids to learn to pinpoint people's locations and all that. Meanwhile, I'm just like you, except I can still hear them and I can breathe this air in.

Now as much as I wanted to say reading Leyton's little explanation helped lower my anxiousness, it didn't. It just made me feel hyper-aware of what was going on.

He locked eyes with me for a brief few seconds and I knew he knew I was not feeling any better. He started to type something again when the phone slipped from his grip, bouncing twice: once from his watch and once from his lap before it landed on the floor with a thunk!

His eyes suddenly darted to the security guards, one of whom was now looking in the car with his brows furrowed. The other three had taken on defensive stances.

Had the enemies heard the phone? I thought for a fleeting few moments when I knew that of course, they had!

One of the guards, the huge one who sat to my right made a twirling gesture, similar to the ones people did when telling a helicopter to take off, to the driver who nodded and started up the engine.

Leyton pulled me up so I sat in my seat again and told me to put my seatbelt on before doing the same. I lurched back into my seat as we took off and I clutched on to Leyton for support. I was terrified! The driver could hardly see yet he was speeding.

Leyton tried to assure me everything was okay but even I could tell he was slightly nervous as he tightly gripped my hand also.

"Can't they catch us? Don't vampires run fast?"

He shook his head, "not all of them, and not unless they're guaranteed a meal."

That didn't make me feel better at all! I could be that meal!

I focused on breathing deeply, in through the nose, and out through the mouth, just like all those meditating videos I'd seen. It also turned out to be very ineffective.

Eventually, we arrived at the helipad, which had surprisingly less smoke and fog and I could finally remove the uncomfortable filter mask. Only to have to replace it with an equally as uncomfortable headset once I was in the black helicopter.

The two pilots greeted me briefly before hurriedly taking off. I watched their hands eagerly scan over all the equipment, making all the necessary checks at the speed of light before ascending.

The journey home was just under two hours, with nothing to see but thick grey clouds, the air was worse up in the sky than on the ground, I could smell it much stronger than when in the car. But that was the last thing on my mind because I was finally going home at the request of The King himself, my father-in-law. I hadn't seen much of him but God I had missed him and his toothy grin.

Just as I felt my eyelids become heavy of boredom and exhaustion after looking into what seemed the endless greys and whites if clouds and smoke, we broke through it. Nox Aterrima was in full view; in smoke and ruins.