I continued to scream until I felt a hand slap my face, it stopped me screaming, and it actually shut me up. But when I looked at the person who had done it I began to back away, reaching up to touch where he had bitten… but all I could feel were two tiny little lumps, like gnat bites.
“Don’t...” he started, reaching for my hands “You… dare” it was a warning, or rather a challenge I kicked upwards in hopes of hitting his balls but I didn’t feel it collide, instead my I realised that my wrists were now pinned behind my back like when a policeman arrests you “Cool it!”
“Get the fuck off me!” I screamed, eventually I felt him let go which in turn made me fall to the floor. Once free I scrambled up on my feet and darted forward but yet again he grabbed me, spinning me around to face him
“I told you to flee... I told you!” his face expressed anger but his eyes showed cockiness, he didn’t give me time to explain as he picked me up and flicked me over his shoulder with one sweep of his arm “You scream, I’ll break your neck” I held my breath… was this kid for real? Deciding that listening to him was the safest option I sighed but remained quiet.
The next thing I knew I was thrown in the back of a car and told to wait, once he as out of sight I tried the door handles… locked, knew my plan then. What the hell just happened? Vampires? No way, they didn’t exist… my drink must have been drugged I started hallucinating. A few minutes later I heard men talking not far from the car
“What the hell are we going to do!?” my captor asked
“Well can’t just kill her can we, not after what you felt…” the other guy replied to him, I heard a grunt which was probably from him
“Damn it Seth… what am I supposed to do… she’s seen too much, I can’t just let her go now can I!?”
“Calm yourself old friend, you could… the worst that would happen is that she’s locked up in an asylum somewhere”
“Or she would accidently tell a hunter? I can’t take that risk… but the weird thing is that I can’t read her mind” read my mind? I keep my thoughts to myself asshole.
“It seems that we only have one option then” I gulped, what were they going to do?
“Yes… I suppose so” Things went silent for a while before I heard the car becoming unlocked and the two me slipped in. Seth sat next to me in the back, probably to keep an eye on me whilst my captor sat in the driver’s seat. Neither of them said a word, I fastened my seatbelt up and braced myself for whatever they had planned.
I gazed out of the window to the constant cloud covered moon, it looked bluish tonight… strange… much like what was going on right now. I didn’t understand how on earth any of this was even bloody real
“Miss…” I turned around to see Seth Staring at me “What’s your name?” I said nothing “Awww come on now… I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.
“What’s the point if you’re going to kill me anyway?” That’s when I heard both of them burst with laughter “I fail to see what’s funny” I retaliated
“If I was going to kill you I would have done it when you were screaming like a lunatic, if I wanted you to die… I would have let you kill yourself” my captor replied, I lurched forward in my street, panic ridden… the only thing that stopped me touching him was the restraining seatbelt
“That was you!?” I exclaimed “Why… why didn’t you just let me die!?” tears stung my eyes but I held them back, determined not to show weakness
“I was...intrigued...” he said, almost dismissively
“By what!?” I spat
“At the fact I could not read your mind…. Precides, I don’t kill people unless they either beg for it or it is absolutely necessary”
“Monster” I spat again, not bothering to hide my anger
“Please miss… just try to sit back and relax” Seth smiled at me, but I did not smile back instead I slumped back in a huff, we rode in silence for a while, my mind becoming clouded with thoughts of my family, the scene that had unravelled back there, the fact he bit me… and the fact that I wasn’t scared but more intrigued.
“My names Victoria,” I glanced over to Seth who had genuine shock implanted on his face
“Seth, Seth Leonte” he held out his hand but I didn’t take it, feeling a little let down he pulled it away and pulled a face that said it was worth a try… Ha! You aren’t going to get any niceties from me “Mr arrogance over there is Dante”
“Was there any need for her to know my name?” he scowled
“Yes, she was going to find out at some point anyway” I didn’t know how Seth could be so chirpy at a time like this.
“That may be well and true but she needn’t of known my name until… well later”
“What’s later?” I asked, butting in… but they both fell to silence, choosing to ignore me as… just like everyone else.
The journey was long and somewhat draining, I began to feel my lids droop down, wanting to shield and cover my eyes to give that much needed rest… but I refused to give in… I couldn’t… there were two killers next to me!?
“Why don’t you have a nap Miss Cruz?” Seth’s voice caught me completely off guard and I ended up groaning at him
“Sorry” I apologised “But I don’t trust either of you… no offence”
“None taken” He leaned over and lowered his voice til it was nothing but a whisper “It’s best if you keep it that way I’m afraid” as he pulled away I noticed that his expression had changed to something relatively close to sadness, not quite that however… he was trying to mask it I think. Shaking my head I returned my gaze to back outside the window, we were in what looked like a forest and I could just faintly make out the moon peaking between the vast amounts of branches and brambles. Feeling the car come to an abrupt halt, I knew that finally we had arrived, where however was a totally different matter.
Dante turned around in his seat and stared at me menacingly before I saw a cocky little grin appear on his lips, whatever he had planned he was sure I was not going to enjoy it.
“Out” he said bluntly, I didn’t need telling twice. I unstrapped the seatbelt and yanked the door open, making sure I slammed shut. I reached my arms high in the air and began to stretch, that journey was ridiculously long and once I heard my back click in a few places I sighed contently. It was good to be out in the open again, as soon as a smile began to spread along my face it was cut short when I felt an ice cold hand grab my wrist and drag me along, as I tried to resist I felt the sharp nails of his fingers dig in, making me wince with pain but that only seemed to make him angrier as he began to pull harder
“Dante don’t you think…” Seth began but was cut short when he saw Dante spin around and glare at him “Whatever” he mouthed, holding his hands up in defeat. I looked up from the ground to see a magnificent house, it resembled a mansion… but even that seemed too small to this grand place… this kid was loaded. I could not hold back the ‘wow’ that escaped my lips when I had set eyes upon it, which evidently made Dante chuckle under his breath… this must have been a normality for him… bringing girls to their doom… having them admire this house. Once inside the house I was once again taken in awe, it was fantastically decorated in what I assumed to be Victorian styled? Dante released my hand so instinctively I looked down to see the change from scarlet to pink to white… was he trying to pull it off? Prepared to yell at him I shot my eyes up… but he was gone… literally nowhere to be seen.
“He’s gone to find his parents” Seth said behind me, making me jump
“Why?”
“He’s going to introduce you” confusion erupted along my face, why on earth would he want to do that? He sees me as a meal doesn’t he? “Victoria, may I ask you a question?” I turned to face him, his expressions remained cool and well hidden
“Shoot” I said ever so bluntly
“How is it we cannot read your mind?” I took a step back, shocked and caught slightly off guard… I didn’t know exactly but I had a faint idea
“Well, I’ve had to keep myself to myself for so long… my thoughts are my own, no one else’s… I guesse my mind works in the same way as my attitude” that made him chuckle, I glanced at his eyes… an ice blue like mine…
“Staring is rude my dear” he smiled, making me blush “But perhaps your theory is correct… I would work hard to keep it that way, Dante and his brothers have a way of catching you off guard… making you spill you innermost desires” he flickered his fingers in mid-air, probably to add the ‘spook’ factor to what he just said, but it just resulted in mere amusement to me. As I stared at him once more I noted that his expression had quickly changed from happy and bubbly to dark and stern, he nodded behind me and I quickly spun around, Dante was stood on the stairs with his hand clasped tightly to the banister… evidently angry.
“Happiness is not usually prone to prisoners” he spat, the tiny drop of joy that I had felt momentarily had quickly evaporated. I averted my gaze to the floor, not wanting to show the tears that were now flowing… he was no better than Serena. Before I knew it he had me pinned up against the wall, eyes burning into me… I turned my gaze away from him but he just tilted it back up again “Crying are we? How sweet”
“Dante...”he stopped dead in his tracks, the smile that had appeared quickly vanished “Step away from her” Staring up I noticed a woman staring down at us from the top of the stairs, she had brown hair that flowed mid-way down her back, bright green eyes, lean in shape and stood to about 5’6 She also wore a floor length, golden coloured dress that swayed and danced when she began walking down the stairs. The way she walked and talked however made me think she was of high importance and rank… she was of upper class that was a certainty.
“Mother” he muttered, bowing his head and taking a step back… that was not often seen in the youth of today, she simply looked at him with gentle eyes before averting her gaze to me full of confusion, bewilderment and I think… excitement?
“Child, what is your name?”
“V-Victoria” I stammered, she smiled
“Do not be afraid, please… walk with me” she gestured her hand outward for me to start walking and I complied gratefully, stealing a glance from Dante as I brushed past him… which in turn sent a wave of fresh Goosebumps trailing along my skin. “My name is Anna I am the Lady of this household and as you just learned, young Dante’s mother… I can tell that you seem unafraid yet still nerved… do you know what we are?” I glanced over to her and pursed my lips together, not wanting the word to slip from my lip in case I was truly crazy.
“V-Vampires” I stuttered, the mere mention of the word sent bile lurching up my front, recalling the memories of tonight… the people… bodies… dead… lifeless on the floor, drained of whatever life they had to live still.
“Yes child, we are creatures of the dark...”
“Can I… May I ask some questions?” she smiled at me with such a sweet smile that it was hard to think of her as a menacing killer, but I’d read enough books to know that it was a charade… a lure to the innocent and naïve.
“Go on child”
“Are you repelled by Garlic, Holy water, sunlight?” she stifled a laugh, probably expecting these questions
“Garlic give us bad breath as it does to everyone, holy water...” she laughed “ no child, and we can walk in graveyards and churches too… as for sunlight… well our senses are heightened so it gives us migraines and hurts our eyes so we try to avoid it, but we do not melt, burn or twinkle like your modern day stories suggest”
“So what is different?” I asked ask a frown creased my forehead, she stopped and turned to face me
“Our senses are heightened to the upmost extreme, we are faster than the everyday human… well we can run slightly faster than 30mph, we have unprecedented strength and most of all… we thirst for your blood” my gut churned and my heart pounded against my chest, why is it the sheer mention of blood made me feel sick? I was becoming more and more aware that I was not afraid of being in the presence of Vampires, bloodthirsty murderers… but afraid of falling into the trap and trusting them.