A Vampire's Life Book 6

Chapter 2

'Clearly I must have not done my job properly, you're still here.'

Ariella tried to side step him but he put his hand up and leaned on the truck, blocking her path.

'You never gave me an answer about the beer after work.'

'I don't drink beer.'

'Wine? Champagne? There must be something that you drink.'

A wicked grin crossed her face as a fang pressed into her bottom lip.

'Oh very nicely played.' he chuckled.

His hand slipped from the truck as the keeper found him, pushing him into the line of the slaves.

As they walked down the gravel track he looked upon the castle, the front façade of the building long with many windows scattered across it over three levels. At each end was a corner tower with turrets sitting on the roof tops. The grey stones of the walls looked so pristine, so perfect. The land around them was green, he had never seen anything like it. The trees grew healthily, the grass looked so lush. The troublemaker heard a noise that he didn't know what it was.

'What was that?'

Ariella looked at him wondering who his last master was, clearly they were very lax.

'Slaves are not supposed to speak unless spoken to.'

'Yeah, yeah, heard it all before, what was that noise?'

She stopped to listen hearing only the birds chirping in the trees.

'You mean the birds?'

'The what?'

'Birds, you know, tweet, tweet.'

One fluttered past and nearly scared the life out of him.

'A bird.' she pointed as it passed.

He watched as the little brown thing flew between the trees, landing on the branch near him. The other slaves passed him as he stopped to watch the bird. It then fluttered around to a flower.

'What is it doing?'

'It is drinking the nectar from the flower. Have you never seen a bird before?'

He shook his head, still astounded at the creature before him. It was so tiny and delicate, he thought that it was very sweet. The bird was constantly on the move, hovering from one flower to the next, always after this nectar stuff. Whatever that is the trouble maker thought. He inwardly sighed, knowing that his life had left him knowledgeable in all the wrong things. Something as simple as this bird and this nectar thing, he knew nothing about.

'Come along or you will find yourself at the end of the keeper's whip.'

The young man looked to Ariella, her skin looked soft, her eyes a brilliant blue. He knew he could stare into those eyes for the rest of his life. Yet she was so cold and domineering. The trouble maker thought the rocks under his feet had more warmth in them. Which was a terrible thing to think. Her eyebrow raised as she stared at him. He wondered if it was true, the rumours he had heard about vampires. They can read your mind one man told him. They won't tell you either, so make sure you put up walls in your mind to hide your secrets another told him. He knew it was a real concern, he didn't want anyone in his mind. Too many secrets.

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The slaves were led into a holding room, waiting to be branded with the family crest. A sign of ownership that was to sit on their left wrist below their tracking number. Ninety percent of all humans were now farmed, there were some humans that had earned the right to walk as a free person. These were people that respected the land and never hunted the vampires. In return they got freedom to do as they pleased without fear of being hunted by the vampires. It was a mutual agreement between the humans and the vampires that had worked well, the humans appreciated not being hunted or forced into slavery like the others and the vampires appreciated not being hunted. But there was one breed of human that still hunted them, the rogues. The vampires had to protect the freed humans as well, they were targets even though there was no valid reason.