(A/N : wrote this chapter last november and I'm just posting this now in october. Its almost been a year 😭)
She moans in pain as she sits upright on the bed. It took her a few minutes to collect her bearings, at first she thought that someone had struck her hard across the back of her head with a heavy object or something which subjected her to almost seeing stars. It took her a while to recollect her memories, remembering that she was poisoned.
She suspected that the water she had consumed from the bottle most probably had been poisoned.
Lifting her head she stroked the part where her head hurt the most, pressing her fingers lightly onto her temple, she winces as pain immediately flares up. At this point, she couldn't even comprehend if it was physical pain or psychological pain she felt.
A few minutes pass by as she sat on top of the soft mattress, as she lifted her head and took in her surrounding she couldn't tell where she was, or exactly what this place was.
The room was huge, painted a royal blue in colour, and curtains and drapes covered the whole expansion of a wall, possibly to cover the windows and give it a sophisticated look. Small antique-like sculptures and fixtures. Even the furnishing had a sophisticated touch to it, with a high queen-sized bed with a thick comforter and soft plush-like pillows topped off with a canopy giving it a regal look. The lights were dim but bright enough to see her surroundings and not hurt her eyes with its brightness. A huge chandelier hung right on top of the high bed. Everything around her looked like something out of the Victorian era, a place built for Kings and Queens.
Confusion clouds her senses as she places her feet on the ground, getting up from the high bed she woke up in, she looks around confusedly around her. There were two wooden doors with intricate designs climbing up the wood, plus another door; which she was sure led to a built-in closet.
Moving towards one of the wooden doors, she twists the knob, it twists open to reveal a huge bath, just as regal as the room. She manages to get a glimpse of the Jacuzzi but closes the door immediately after since she was looking for something else.
Turning back around she catches the glimpse of a wooden door off to the side, approaching it she grabs a hold of the knob, twisting it down but nothing happens, no clicking open of the door is heard which leads her to panic as she comes to the conclusion that someone had locked the door from outside.
Panic-stricken she tries to turn the metal around again but it still doesn't budge a bit. Running towards the huge windows, she moves the curtains covering them away only to see bars made of steel running horizontally and vertically across them, basically barricading her. Looking outside, she finds darkness spread throughout the expanse of her vision, she was kidnapped during the day, it's probably been a few hours since she's been gone seeing how it was nighttime now.
Now she knew two things, first that someone had kidnapped her on purpose, and secondly, they didn't want her escaping in any way, hence why the windows were barred and doors locked from outside. Why else would a huge, elegant-looking room have barricades in the form of steel bars on the windows?
Not having any other choice she resorts to calling out to someone, hoping that anyone walking past the room would hear her open the door, the chances of that happening were slim but she was willing to take the risk.
Banging on the wood of the door she tries calling out, "Hello, anyone there?". Banging in between she continues on her pursuit. "Hello, Is anyone here? I'm locked inside, I need to get out." She gets tired after being at it for minutes and being gone unheard didn't help either.
She hadn't felt so helpless in such a long time, tiredly with shoulders' dropped back in defeat she leans her head on the door, sighing dishearteningly as she stares down at the ground just in time to see a shadow appear through the tiny gap separating the door from the ground.
She immediately steps back, letting the person behind the door to open it first. She hears the jingle of keys and the satisfying click of the door being twisted open leading her to sigh in relief.
The huge mahogany door opens, and she comes face to face with a man who looks to be in his late thirties or maybe in his early forties, she couldn't tell; from what she could tell that the man wasn't a supernatural being, she couldn't get anything from his scent because he basically smelled like a human being and not a supernatural creature. This piece of information mildly astonishes her seeing that humans were not supposed to know about the supernatural beings, let alone stay among them. She was sure she wasn't in the human territory since she could feel the magic around her, something was preventing her from using magic, or else she would've escaped this place easily.
The man standing in front of her was wearing a butler's outfit leading her to believe that he was the servant that worked in this huge palace. The man had black hair with some strands turning grey, paired with green eyes that looked lifeless and hollow.
"Ma'am please follow me, Master is waiting for you at the dinner table," The man says monotonously stopping her from asking him any questions seeing how he even refused to meet her eyes, keeping his gaze glued to the floor.
She just nods her head in reply, causing him to turn back towards the door with his back facing her, he walks back outside the door, and she follows after him this time with no questions asked.
Walking down the dark hallways sent a creepy feeling down her spine. The hallways were spacious and huge in size with the same antique-like designs the rooms seemed to have, matching the theme perfectly with the antique fixtures present here and there. The dark painting hung on the wall. The hallways were dimly lit which brought forth an eerie feeling inside her. The man of whose name she didn't know walks down the hallways, not even turning back to look if she was following him or not. What she found more strange was the strange marks around the man's neck, it appeared to be old and healing but it still left a few scars in its place.
The nameless man continues to walk for a few more minutes, and taking a sudden turn he stops walking. She comes to a stop beside him to see a huge dining hall spread vastly before her. The dining hall was just like she had imagined, huge just like the rest of the place, with crimson red and antique gold shaded designs adorning the walls, making her gape at its beauty.
While admiring the beautiful but dark theme of the place, she failed to notice a figure sitting at the head of the long mahogany table, When she finally takes notice of them, she finds them already staring back at her.
"Place take a seat miss" The butler beside her speaks up, but she never breaks her stare that was fixed on the man seated at the head of the table. There was something about him that set her mind into some kind of alert mode. She felt like she was supposed to know him for some unknown reason.
Finally breaking her stare, she goes to take a seat at the other end of the table, directly opposite to the stranger, just when she's about to sit a voice stops her.
"Come closer love" his voice that of a deep baritone, his voice startled her for a moment, his voice was deep but raspy at the same time, it felt like he wasn't someone who spoke very often. There was just something so eerie about him.
She was hesitant in following his order but did it anyways not wanting him to think that she was intimidated by him, she doesn't know what he was capable of. She might use her powers if he tried anything on her, thus catching him off guard.
Now that she noticed, there were food items of various kinds placed before him and where she was supposed to sit initially, seeing how there was a plate placed in front of the seat beside the stranger.
Quietly, she sat beside him, she was thankful because she didn't have to sit too close to him since he was sitting at the head of the table. Taking a seat on the soft cushiony chair, she stares at the food placed before her, the aroma of the various dishes was heavenly and made her stomach rumble lowly. When the stranger's lips tilt slightly upward, she realizes that he had probably heard her stomach aching for food; a faint blush appears on her cheeks.
The piece of steak placed on her plate was calling out to her, but she was hesitant. She didn't make a move to lift up the silver cutlery that helped in cutting into the meat.
"It's not poisoned if that's what you're thinking" the stranger speaks up again causing her head to snap towards him. He just basically replied to her unvoiced question.
Why would she ever eat something her kidnapper was giving her? Besides, wasn't he the one to poison her water in the first place?!
She was a hundred per cent sure that this man was behind the kidnapping, even though he was an imposter in her mate's body. Since the butler had called him his master and this man seemed to look at her knowingly, which confused her all the more.
"Who are you? And why am I here?" She immediately questions him, not being able to hold back her questions and confusion anymore. The pounding she felt when she had woken up had lessened, but it still made her jumpy and disoriented.
Hazel eyes stare back at her, appearing more green than brown; glinting with some unknown intention. The lavender colored eyes she had seen were gone...
"Curious little one, aren't you Jade?" he asks her with a secret smile appearing on his face. he cuts his steak perfectly with the knife and fork, she watched as he took a bite of it, waiting for him to speak, give away anything.
"How do you know my name?" she asks him curiously.
"I'll answer two of your questions after you finish eating your dinner. I don't like my guests sleeping on an empty stomach."
"Such hospitality" she mutters under her breath, but her words seem to be heard by the stranger as he smirked at her words while cutting into another piece of his steak.
Feeling hungry herself, she slowly cuts into the steak placed on the plate before her, taking a sceptical bite at first, almost moaning out loud at how it tasted heavenly to her taste buds, catching the smug expression on the stranger's face she knew that he knew how much she found the found delicious despite her containing her moans of appreciation.
She hadn't noticed it at first but she did after she had finished devouring her food when she lifted her eyes, they met a pair of hazel green ones, staring at her blatantly, he had been staring all along at her and she had no idea, he watched her with fascination, his eyes looked so unreal with how the green in them seemed to glow, it sent involuntary shivers down her spine.
"Staring at someone while they're eating is considered to be rude," she tells him, looking at him square in the eyes.
"It's also considered a sin to look this pulchritudinous while devouring a piece of steak." comes his swift reply.
"Pulchr-di? what? it sounds like some sort of disease" she tries pronouncing the word he had just mentioned a few moments before but fails terribly at it. Her failed attempts at pronouncing had the stranger's lips tugging upwards yet again, which infuriated her to no end.
"Quiet the opposite actually. Pulchritudinous" he speaks slowly so she could catch the word properly this time "It also means being breathtakingly beautiful" he finishes.
"Are you trying to flirt with me?" she asks him with her head cocked to the side.
"Take it as whatever you may wish" he spoke in riddles, not exactly agreeing with her but tip-toeing around it.
Just before she could reply to him, he swiftly motions his hand in the air, causing someone who had been standing all along in the corner to come forwards so that they could be seen in the light, Jade was surprised at the sudden appearance as she thought it was only her and the hazel-green eyed stranger in the huge dining room all along.
The person was a young girl, probably in her early twenties, her brown hair appeared dull with blue hollow lifeless eyes that dared not stare at anything but the ground. Jade couldn't catch any particular scent from the girl that linked her to any supernatural, she comes to the realization that this young girl too was a human like the butler that had guided her to the dining room.
It all happened so, what the young girl next did make Jade's eyes widen in shock. The girl had her wrist outstretched, her other hand holding onto a silver knife with razor sharp edge that glinted under the lighting of the room. The next thing Jade knows, the girl had sliced her wrist, slitting it open, letting her blood drip onto the silver wine glass with intricate designs on it. The girl didn't even wince once while the sharp knife cut through her skin, what shocked Jade more was the innumerable amount of scars visible on her wrist, almost like this wasn't the first time she was doing this, this wound was just adding up to the past scars. she held her wrist above the glass until it was half full, bowing her head at the green-eyed man, she takes her to leave, leaving as quietly as she had appeared.
All along, Jade sat there baffled at the events that just took place before her very own eyes. Her eyes followed as the stranger lifted the silver glass to his lips, sipping the contents inside like it wasn't blood he was drinking but some expensive vine.
Jade felt her stomach churning, twisting and turning as she watched him drink it. She felt like she was going to puke the amazing piece of steak she had just devoured moments ago. Not being able to watch the scene before her for another moment, she stood up from her seated position abruptly.
The realization of the situation finally sinks into her mind.
She bolts towards the direction the butler had guided from, running as fast as her legs could take her, she ran blindly through the hallways which were so dimly lit even to her enhanced vision, the wind howled near her ears, as something appeared before her, or rather someone; halting her in her footsteps.
Her eyes widen when they meet a pair of hazel-green ones, turning back around the way she came from she tries to bolt yet again, only this time the stranger was quick in his actions, one of his hands had caught her elbows before she could escape, he had a steel-like grip on her arms, she struggled in his arms, trying to trash around and loosen his hold but her tries were futile for the man was far more strong than she was.
"Leave me" she grits out while trying to pry away his hands from hers.
The man retrieves something from his pant pocket, Jade hadn't noticed it yet in her struggle until she felt a sharp object pierce her skin. She instantly felt her body giving up its struggle, her motions halting as the contents of the syringe kicked into her bloodstream way too fast for her to comprehend.
"Leave..." her words come out slurred as her mouth and tongue started feeling numb too.
Her body falls forward, onto the stranger's body. he catches Jade just as she starts to fall sidewards.
"Shh, Shh, it's okay sweetheart" he coos at her like she was some toddler, his hands stroking her hair as her eyes dropped shut.
Turning her sideways, he hooks one of his arms under her knees while the other supported her upper body, lifting her up bridal style, he starts walking with an unconscious Jade in his arms, towards the room she had woken up earlier.