“Here she is! And what a brave girl she certainly is!” My eyes flutter open to the unfamiliar masculine voice which penetrates my sleep and wakes me up in a groggy mess. My eyes focus on an off-white ceiling and bright fluorescent lights.
I felt like I had just been dumped on a table.
I moan in pain as my head throbs. My limbs feel heavy and only some feeling very slowly comes back to my body. The air smells different.
Where was I?
“Argh…” I try and speak but it is hard to form any words. My eyes flicker to a middle aged man standing to the side of me. I’m on some sort of table and I’m still wearing my wedding dress that Isobel made for me.
Someone screams, accompanied with vicious snarling and chains rattling.
“Hold him down!” The same man beside me gives the order and I very slowly turn my head to the side to see a man in a suit hunched over, grabbing his bleeding wrist. Behind him is…
Oh god, no!!!
“Darrius…?” My voice comes out in a husky whisper.
He is in chains against a wall. Two men hold him still while another one sticks a needle into his neck and injects something into his system.
“No…” I whisper. No, no, no. What was happening? Where was I?
“It’s okay, you’re going to be just fine, sweetheart,” The middle aged man reassures me from beside me.
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” I try and snarl it, and successfully do as my voice properly comes back to me. The man beside me ignores me and turns to face someone on my right.
“As you can see this situation is totally in control now,” he speaks to someone on the other side of the large white room. I see cameras and people dressed up in business suits. Humans.
“What will be done with the Prince Vampire?” One of the business men asks.
“Kept alive, and sedated. For now,” The other man replies, “We wish to congratulate this young girl here. Who is just waking up now, for her brave survival in the secret vampire palace where she was held prisoner.”
“This is enough for now,” The business man replies, “We’ll put something together for the public to see.”
“Who are you?” I ask the man beside me, “What do you want from me and Darrius?”
“I saved you,” he says, looking down at me, “I’m politician Greg Humphrey. I organised your rescue and the Prince’s capture. You can thank me and everyone else involved for saving –”
“Go to hell,” I snap, trying to lean up on my elbows. I do so from the sheer force of my will. I was still so weak from being drugged, “I was happy there –”
“I don’t care if you were happy there or not,” Greg cuts in coldly, “We did what we needed to do for the survival of man-kind. You will soon see that and understand how important it is that you are protected from all supernatural creatures.”
“I don’t like you,” I say menacingly, “And if you hurt Darrius I will kill you.”
“Your prince is sleeping, and he is not going anywhere. We need him. Alive, for now. Benjamin,” Greg looks past me to the business men and cameras, “I need to talk to you and your crew outside. We aren’t done yet.”
“What are you doing?” I glare at Greg as he dismisses me with a wave of his hand and motions for Benjamin to follow him.
“You’ll know soon enough, sweetheart,” He walks from the room and most of the others follow except for the few guards hanging around Darrius, who is unconscious now. Still wrapped in chains.
“Don’t call me sweetheart,” I yell out at Greg.
Only one person had the right to call me that.
I needed to figure out what the hell was happening and save Darrius’ ass and my own.
“Where am I?”I ask one of the guards. He doesn’t answer.
Damn it. I sit up straighter off the table and look around the room once more.
White walls, tinted windows, one door.
One exit.
For now, all I could do was wait until someone told me what the hell was going to happen.
To me, and to Darrius.
Chapter 36
After about 30 mins of tense waiting, I am taken from my white room, away from Darrius, into a more comfortable looking office with chairs and a desk which politician Greg Humphrey is sitting behind.
I am seated on the other side in a leather sofa while the two guards with me walk outside the office, leaving me alone with a politician I had never heard the name of.
“Are you going to explain to me what is going on?” I ask in a neutral tone. I decided anger wouldn’t help me at the moment. I needed to reason with Greg and try and find a way to stop them from killing my newly wedded vampire husband, Darrius. An arrogant prick he may be, but he was my arrogant prick.
“This is the beginning of a revolution,” Greg explains to me, leaning forward and threading his fingers together, resting his chin on top of his hands as he leans his elbows on the desk. He had dark brown hair that was going grey and cold grey eyes, “May I ask why you aren’t happy to be saved from the vampires?”
“I was happy there and they treated me well, I was safe. I’m certainly not happy now because I love Darrius and you are going to kill him,” I clench my fists in my lap, trying not to appear too angry.
“We will protect you,” Greg says, eyeing me up and down, “You’re needed for our project to gain more power in a world predominantly ruled by supernatural beings because they are more powerful. However you are the key to human success, human power and survival. The prince vampire is our only weakness, keeping him alive will not be a viable option for the future.” I narrow my eyes at Greg, barely holding back my rage.
“If you are so hell bent on killing Darrius, why haven’t you done so already? What are you planning?” My heart skips a beat when a wide smile appears on Greg’s face.
“This is where we need your complete co-operation, young Jennifer,” Greg stands up suddenly from his seat with excitement, “Whether you want to do this or not is not up to you, and you will do as we say because it will be in your best interests if you want your parents to stay alive –”
“You have my parents?” I ask, aghast, “Who else did you take from that wedding?”
“No one else. But I do have your parents contained and they will be harmed if you do not do as I say,” He explains, “This is for the eminent survival of human-kind.”
“What do you want me to do?” I ask, trying to keep my voice from wavering. He had my parents and Darrius, the three people I loved most in this world. All three were at harm of getting killed. How was I meant to save all of them? My brain starts shifting through solutions…
“We are staging a public execution tomorrow,” Greg continues happily, “The prophecy that came after the creation of supernatural creatures suggests that you and your prince are soul-mates however you are going to stand in front of a large human crowd in the middle of the city and announce your sole commitment to human-kind, not to your prince. Your blood will save us but not if there is a cure. When the vampire King announced Darrius’ blood was a cure it was clear to us that he needs to be dealt with asap. That is why Darrius has to die, and you will be the one to end his life. It will make one hell of a statement,” Greg slowly sits back down and looks for my reaction.
“You… you want me to kill Darrius?” I ask, shocked.
“Yes, Jennifer,” Greg tilts his head to the side and raises an eyebrow up at me, “Do you have a problem with that?”
“Of course I do –”
“Remember, I have your parents. I can have them killed whenever I say so,” He explains.
“You are meant to be a politician, not a murderer!” I yell, not holding back any longer, “This is wrong!”
“No, Jennifer, this is right,” Greg narrows his eyes, suddenly the smile drops off his face, “Tomorrow will be the beginning of a revolution, like I said. You are going to be a hero. This is about saving humanity. You should be proud of what you get to do tomorrow. Do you understand?” His tone lightens up a bit at the end. I know he wants me to answer yes, I have no choice but to unless I want my parents killed in retaliation, “Do you understand?” He repeats.
“Yes,” I lie, “I understand.”
“Good, I’ll get the guards to take you to proper accommodation. You need to rest up, you’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow,” Greg gets up and walks around the desk to the doors to get the guards and I stare past his chair to the window of his office, looking out over a pretty garden.
I try to think of a solution to escape and save both my parents and Darrius…
No ideas come to mind.
For now, nothing could be done.
What was I supposed to do?