Liam's POV
Kayne stepped inside the room and the both of us immediately pulled away from each other.
I hurriedly got down from Ryder's arms and he settled me to my feet.
"I..Uhh..Thank you." I told him and went to sit on the couch.
"It's feeding time, let's go. Unless you want to eat something..." Kayne trailed off and looked in my direction. He grinned at Ryder and it took me a moment before I processed what he said.
I immediately went still and I gulped as I looked at them. I didn't know how vampires fed, but I knew that blood was their meal. I mentally slapped myself for forgetting that Ryder was a vampire even if he was a walking sin.
"I'm just kidding. You're safe here. No one will be able to touch you, even if they wanted to." He assured me and I felt slightly relieved at what he said.
"If you encounter any problems...Just scream and shout. As loud as you can." Ryder said to me before turning his back. I had a feeling that he wasn't joking when he said it.
"Well then, we'll let you get acquainted with your room since you'll be here for...a while." He finished and walked towards the door.
Before they could leave, Ryder stopped to look at me and said,
"Don't try to run. Because even if you do, I'll find you. Do I have your word?" He asked and sternly looked at me in the eye. There was no intimacy present in his expression, like what he was about to do a moment ago didn't even cross his mind.
I was planning on escaping as soon as they were out but the promise behind Ryder's words stopped me from doing so.
"Do I have your word?" He reiterated and took a step forward. I nodded my head repeatedly but he wasn't satisfied with that so I replied,
"Yes."
His gaze stayed on me for a complete minute before he finally recognized the promise that I made. Little did he know, I was crossing my fingers behind my back. I would get out of here, just not now.
A couple of minutes after they left, a knock sounded from outside my door and I sat up from the bed I was laying down on.
The door opened and Natalie walked in. My eyes widened and I immediately panicked, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay. I won't hurt you. I promise I won't. So just- just calm down." She extended both her arms out and halted from where she was standing.
"I'm here to apologize." She said and took a step forward. I flinched at that and she saw it, retracing her step. Her mouth was formed into a tight line and she slowly nodded her head.
"Then I guess I'll stay here and let dragon do the work." She smiled and fully opened the door, revealing a large pitbull with a black and white fur and a tongue hanging from its open mouth. His ears were cropped, making it stand upright and adding more to the fearsome look.
"Dragon! Bite- I mean, play!" She ordered and the dog perked up at the order and immediately ran towards me. At first, I thought he was going to eat me but the wagging of his tail gave me a breath of relief.
The dog jumped towards me and from the expression on his face, I knew that mauling me to death was the last thing on its list. I landed back to the bad with an "oomphf" as he tackled me. He licked my face repeatedly and jumped from side to side.
"Down, boy." She ordered and Dragon immediately obeyed. He craned his head to the side as he looked at me and then back to his owner.
"A peace offering. I hope you accept the company." Natalie said and took a seat on the couch across my bed.
"So..." She clasped her hands and smiled at me before leaning back.
"I really am sorry for what happened back there. You need to understand that your blood is...euphoric." She paused for a moment to let me process what she said and I furrowed my brows at her. Dragon plopped down on the bed beside me and rested his head on my lap.
"What do you mean?" I asked and adjusted in my seat. I petted Dragon's head and let my hand ran through his fur as I looked at Natalie.
"You're different, Liam." She started and fidgeted in her seat as if she was revealing information that she shouldn't. I frowned at her once again because they've been saying that to me ever since I got here.
"Screw it." She muttered and blew out a breath before continuing.
"Whenever we smell human blood, we get tempted and hungry, yes, but we can control our thirst as if the scent was just one of the many things we can smell in the air." She confessed and I could only nod my head because I didn't know what blood smells like to them.
"All the vampires in this castle underwent training so that when we are out and mingling with humans, we could avoid any unforeseen incidents, including draining them to death." My eyes widened at that and she answered me with a smile that I know all too well. "We're vampires, Liam." is what it says.
"But you...you turn all our reason, our humanity, and our control, into something dangerous. Just a drop of your blood makes every single vampire in a room come after you. You absolutely have no idea how your blood smells to us, do you?" She asked and I shook my head from side to side in response to her question.
"It smells like life and death, Liam. It's pure bliss. It's the sweetest thing I've ever smelled in the world and it's impossible not to be aware of it. It calls to our most primal instincts and whenever you're scared or vulnerable, you become the only thing we can see." She explained and I don't know how to react because I don't know how I differ from other humans.
"H-How?" I asked, baffled by what she just revealed.
"That's what the council is trying to figure out. You're a mystery in itself. The first impossibility in vampire history." She finished and looked at me with the exact same way that all of them did. Fascination.
"W-Wait. A while ago, something.. unusual happened. There's this flame that protected us from the other vampires. How is that for impossible?" I questioned her and she smiled at me.
"That's the gift of the Grand High Master. He controls fire. Some of us vampires have gifts, and those vampires are sent here in this castle to join the legion and serve his Grandness." She said as if it was the most normal thing in the world and I stayed quiet for a complete minute to process what she said. I blinked countless of times when I pulled myself together and asked the question that was bugging my mind.
"You said something about...blood. How do you vampires feed? Do you- uhh, take humans?" I asked and she frowned at the accusing tone in my voice.
"We may be vampires, Liam, but we're not monsters." She told me and I saw pain in her eyes as she answered me.
"I'm sorry, I didn't- that's not what I meant." I quickly apologized and busied myself in touching Dragon's ears.
"I know. It seems like we got off on the wrong foot." I looked at her from under my lashes and she offered me a small smile.
"We have blood slaves. Humans who offer themselves to us in return for money and protection. There are some... criminals, who are taken against their will and given to us to pay for their crimes." She said and I was taken aback when she told me that criminals are taken to pay for their crimes.
"B-But that's- They deserve to be forgiven and that's why we have laws-"
"Humans who committed murder, who beat their spouses, hurt their child, rape women, and kidnap babes to sell them on the black market. Do you think those people care whether they are forgiven or not?" She cut me off and I tried to think of something to say to her but couldn't.
"I have a feeling that you always try to see the goodness in people, Liam. That's very admirable, but by doing that, you're forgetting how corrupt and wicked they truly are. A sorry won't bring back the dead, Liam." I looked at her. Really looked at her, and I saw something in her eyes that spoke of a story untold. Hers.
"Sometimes humans are nothing but wicked creatures. Your kind are the ones you should be fearing, not us." She declared before pulling out a flask in her pocket and pouring its content on a wine glass.
My eyes widened when the red liquid filled the glass halfway and she swirled it in her hand before bringing it to her lips. I gagged internally and Dragon raised his head, feeling my distress.
I shushed him back and smiled at him and he tilted his head in return. A thought came into mind and I looked back at Natalie.
"How about animal blood? Can you drink animal blood?" I inquired and she raised a brow at me as she placed the glass back down on the table.
"We could, yes. But it doesn't offer us the same taste and feeling when we drink human blood. Drinking human blood quenches our thirst and makes us feel full. But when we drink animal blood, it might make us full, yes, but it doesn't sate our thirst." She stood up from her seat and started walking towards the window.
"The thirst for blood is never-ending. There's this nagging feeling in the back of our minds to quench it and to make ourselves satisfied. Vampires who only drink animal blood will always be on edge and they'll keep fighting themselves for control. It's like being confined because we're depriving ourselves of what our body needs. The bloodlust consumes us when it gets suppressed for far too long. When that happens...we lose control of who we are." She smiled sadly as she ran her hand through the thick fabric of the drapes.
"How can you know so much about this? Did you experience it?" I got curious by the expression she had on her face and she looked outside where it started raining again. She didn't bother to look at me and after an eternity of silence, she finally answered.
"I know someone who does." Her voice was only above a whisper and the sympathy in it didn't go unnoticed. She separated the drapes and opened the windows to welcome the cold wind of the air.
"Ryder doesn't drink human blood, Liam. Or more like, he can't."
A/N: I'm sure by now, y'all are wanting to stab me😂😭😌 What can I say I'm a fan of cliffhangers ✨🤭😚