He watched her slowly falling to sleep. She visibly relaxed until her head finally lolled to the side and he could tell she was asleep. He had nothing else to do so he sat by her side admiring her while he waiting for Joseph. He could not have asked for a more beautiful Bride. He had thought her good looking when he had seen her with her wild hair. For some reason the dirt had not marred her beauty; her eyes had still pierced through its grey streaks on her face and her red lips, so plump and vivid with colour had only drawn him to them as they stood out on her face. Her delicate body encased in that tantalising dress had only made him take note of her properly, her delicate frame, her subtle figure. And her hair, as wild as it was, it made her look fierce. Fierce, as in, he could see in her a confidence to speak out, a boldness, that had only drawn him to her more.
Of course she had been terrified, and that boldness had not at first been spotted in her personality. All until he walked in on her sitting on the bed telling him she would run but for the duty to her village people. She was openly admitting to him that she didn’t want to be here and as much as that broke his heart, he found a new respect for her, because simply; she stayed.
And now. Now she was cleaned up, and he knew the moment he had walked in and she was sat on the bed with his shirt on that that was the wrong thing to give her. Entirely wrong. He had almost rushed back into the bathroom to gather up the alluring dress, it was much better that the image of her sitting with the majority of her thighs on show and the crisp whiteness of his silk shirt only just covering her bottom giving her decency – but showing him how easily that decency could be taken away by a simple brush of the material.
He had hurried her into bed stopping any thought of conversation because he needed those long and slender legs under the cover, that pale flesh that looked so smooth to be hidden from his sight. And now watching her sleep; she was clean and the shape of her face was clear to him now. The soft curve of her jawline, nothing like his, his face was sharp, his jawline stood out a mile away, she was his opposite. He was however gutted that sleep took away from him the chance to see her eyes – jumping out of her face.
All things must come to an end and his staring at her certainly did when his door bell rang. He flinched and looked over to Lily. Fast asleep, perfect. Then again it’s not every week you’re held captive, told you’re going to die, hauled over to a rock in the forest and chained to it. Just thinking of it again caused another one of his hand marks in the wood of the chair he sat in. Shaking his head he left her to her dreams. He hoped they were peaceful but he had a feeling they wouldn’t be.
“Joseph.” He greeted as he walked down the stairs.
“Perttu. I assume you need to feed, or is there a problem?”
“Both. Upstairs is my Bride and I’m not too impressed at how I found her.”
Making his way into the kitchen he told his cousin everything that had happened while at the same time pulling out a bottle of whiskey. With no stomach he couldn’t eat food but he could drink. Whatever he drank was soaked up and distributed throughout his body – which was why he drank blood to live and why the whiskey in his hands was a delicious amber liquid with effects he was prone to.
Getting two glasses he poured one for himself and one for Joseph. He needed to relax and for a few hours just be at peace. He was aware though, that sometimes that didn’t always work and he got even more emotional that he was used to, but he still poured the glass, drank it and poured out another. He was taking that chance of a little downer to relax enough to tell his thoughts.
Joseph merely watched him from the doorway of the kitchen.
“Maybe I shouldn’t, until you have taken from me.”
“It’s up to you, I don’t mind either way.”
“You think to punish the Village?”
“Of course, I’m just not entirely sure how to do that. And you know what is coming.”
“That I do.
“She is something special. I know what I need to do with her, but I just can’t. She is frightened.”
“Of course she is, but your time is running out. You don’t have as long as you want.”
“I just can’t face doing anything to scare her. Not yet.”
“Woo her then, but be a little quick about it.”
Another glass of whiskey and he felt the warmth of it heat his throat, and finally his body. He felt more relaxed and suddenly everything in his head wasn’t the biggest problem he had ever encountered. A dangerous thing was the bottle in his hands. He had a Bride now, he couldn’t afford to be like the young man he had been. He needed control in life, he needed to plan and be wise about his situation; drinking his nights away in pity at the thoughts in his head were childish now.
He offered Joseph a glass but when he declined Perttu also declined another one. He had a slight control over himself now. He was glad he was able to put that bottle away. Years of isolation had not been kind to him.
“The village needs a little scare, care to do the honours Joseph.”
“With pleasure. Now, take from me, you need blood. And your senses back to you.”
With no further ado, Perttu was off his chair and over by his cousin in less than a second, taking the thin face in his hand and tilting the head to expose the thick neck of his warrior cousin. The pale skin starting at him was not the neck he wanted to take from but he made do. Parting his lips, his fangs were poised ready for the bite, he tightened his hold on Joseph but he didn’t need to, that was instinct. He pierced the skin and blood rushed into his mouth.
Something woke her up. She didn’t open her eyes for a while though, she lay in the bed that was warm and very comfortable. Too comfortable to match her situation. She worried for a little wondering if she was alone, but on hearing no sounds next to her she deduced she was alone and opened her eyes.
The vampire wasn’t there, so where was he? The fear of the door suddenly didn’t seem to occur to her. She felt a pull to somewhere in the house. She felt as if she had a duty of sorts to be there. It was this duty that lingered in her mind and her thoughts and she couldn’t help but leave the bed, walk to the door and open it.
The stairs, the many leading up and the many leading down were not scaring her as they would normally. She felt like she was still in a dream, sleep walking or something of the sort. When her hand ran over rough wood however and she looked down to see the mould of a hand print in the banister she knew she wasn’t in her dream. This was her reality now. Living with a monster and his expensive but ruined décor.
She didn’t know how she knew when to stop. Three floors down, she stopped spiralling down the stairs and let the corridor lead her away from them. She felt a connection between her and something behind that door. But she finally got her senses back when she was at the door and didn’t want to go through it.
The door lay open so she stayed pressed to the wall, listening to the men inside. “…until you have taken from me.” “It’s up to you, I don’t mind either way.” “You think to punish the Village?” “Of course…”
Her fear skyrocketed but her feet refused to move, she had something to do so she stayed. She listened to the conversation, hearing that he didn’t want to make her afraid but there was something he was going to do to her. She felt her heart beating erratically as she faced her fear and kept on listening. Until it went silent.
This was it, her mind and body was walking to the door. This was her duty. She was supposed to do something, something for him but she still had no idea what it was. Until she finally got to the open doorway and saw him, feeding of the other man. Taking his blood in great greedy gulps. She was supposed to feed him, that was her duty, he had let her off by using this man, but that was what she had to do, let him take her blood. Then his eyes opened.
“No, Lily!” She ran.