"What demons, Mama?"
"The worst kind, sweetie."
"How do they look? Scary?"
"Oh, no honey... they're the most beautiful creatures you'll ever meet. But that's the danger. Their beauty draws you in, then before you know it... RAH!-" she exclaimed, making me jump, "-they've already sunk their sharp beautiful fangs into your throat!", she finished, tickling me. I giggled.
She hummed out a laugh, but then put her hands down and lay back. I snuggled up to her.
"Mama?"
"Hmmm?"
I wanted to ask another question, but I looked at her tired face and changed my mind.
"Nothing. I love you, Mama."
"I love you too, sweetie", she mumbled, then went silent. Her arm around me dropped.
"Mama? Mama!"
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I opened my eyes with a gasp. What- where was I? I looked around. I was in a cave of some sort, really huge with ivy and other forms of wild vegetation. It was lit, but the light just showed me that I was nowhere familiar.
"Well it's about time."
My head snapped to the direction of the voice. It was a man in black, the shadows cast by the overhead rock partially covering his face leaving his mouth and cheek lit. His coat was open, exposing his muscular naked torso. He smiled slowly, before speaking again.
"You must have had quite the fright...sorry about that", he said, raising a thumb to his lip. His voice... it was deep and smooth, but it also had a dangerous aura beneath it.
He slowly got to his feet, taking his time as he came down from the elevated stone seat he was on. I began to hyperventilate, panicking.
The shadow on his face gradually left with every step he took and I found myself scrambling back till my back hit a wall. I pulled my knees up and buried my face in them, biting my lip to prevent myself from sobbing. I could hear him get closer and tensed up even more.
"Look at me."
I was trembling now, but for some reason found myself slowly raising my head...to face the most beautiful man I'd ever met. I gasped and put my head down again.
"Please don't hurt me!" I cried, a sob punctuating my plea. I heard a low hum.
"Hurt you? Hm... Here I was thinking we were just going to have a little chat", he said. The way he said it made me want to see his face again, but I was too scared to move. I heard him sigh, then he spoke again.
"What's your name, girl?", he asked suddenly. The question took me off guard and I slowly raised my head to face him. I wasn't hallucinating. He was truly beautiful. He stared me in the eyes and tilted his head.
"H-Han Eunhee...", I barely managed to say. He nodded and straightened up.
"You know why you're here, don't you Eun-Hee?", he asked. I swallowed.
"No...", I whispered. He chuckled.
"That father of yours didn't tell you? Or he was afraid you would run, then he'd be in trouble?", he said.
"He... He didn't tell me anything. And I wouldn't have ran. I don't have anywhere else to go...", I whispered. He hummed, then suddenly leaned close to my face.
"That's good... because I detest traitors," he whispered, sending shivers down my spine. I looked away and at the ground. He straightened up and strolled leisurely to sit on the edge of a pool in the middle of the cave. He picked up a sheet of paper with some writing on it and started to fiddle with it.
"Do you want to know what I do to traitors, hm?", he asked. I didn't answer, looking away again when I realized I was staring. He raised a hand and pointed over my shoulder.
"Take a look, then", he said.
I raised my head to him slowly and he gestured for me to look again. I turned to see what he was pointing to- and let out a choked cry. There was a man in the wall, embedded in it. His skin was as grey as the stone, ivy and moss growing around him. I scrambled back, finding it hard to breathe.
I began to sob, even though I tried not to. The stranger simply got up and walked over. He picked me up in his arms and in my shock, I allowed him to.
"He was a Crown Prince, you know. He defied me, so I got rid of him. The annoying thing was-", He explained, entering the pool and placing me in the water then sitting in front of me, "-he didn't even taste that good."
My eyes widened and I turned to him in shock. He smiled at me, before poking a small paper boat towards me.
"Haven't you figured it out yet, Eun-ah?", he inquired, amusement evident in his voice,"Your father just handed you to a vampire on a silver platter."
My eyes stung and I felt more tears start to run down. He chuckled and raised a hand to my cheek. I could see his sharp fangs even as he smirked. Wiping a tear away, he stared me straight in the eyes.
"Don't worry, sweetheart," he said, still smiling, before his eyes suddenly went hard,"I've already planned not to kill you."
I stared at him with wide eyes, trembling, and not because of the temperature of the water. His smile suddenly faded, and he came closer.
"But I need to have my fun, don't I?", was all he whispered before grabbing my waist and laying me in the water, making me gasp. He leaned close and buried his face in my neck, then let in a deep breath. I couldn't speak... what was wrong with me? I felt him smile against my neck and sent more shivers down my spine.
"You'll feel just a pinch", he whispered, before sinking his sharp fangs into my neck.
I gasped. The pain. I felt it alright, but I couldn't explain it. I wanted him to stop, but I found myself just grabbing onto his sleeve. I couldn't breathe, not to even think of screaming. More tears escaped and my vision got blurry.
"It...hurts...", I weakly whispered, before it all went dark again.