Authors: Jennifer Blyth
I glanced
around
,
taking in my new surroundings.
This
room
was
no better,
poorly lit
with the exception of
wine bottle candleholders
and
some
wall sconces
. The flames were hard to see through the
thick dust and cobwebs
surrounding everything
.
Dark drapes covered the
windows where
boards didn’t. Dead flowers
rotted in old vases occupying
tabletops
along with
old
torn
books.
I stumbled back a step and my heart beat faster as I took notice of the four vampires
in the room
,
occup
ying a few oversized chairs and
worn out couch
.
I
re
focused
my
attention
on them because
I’d seen enough of the house.
T
hey
looked
quite comfo
rtable
sipping
glasses
of
red
wine and
I found myself
mesmerized
, almost
envious,
of
how
at ease
they appeared
. My world
was upside down.
I would
’
ve given
anything to enjoy the
kind of
peacefulness
they reflected.
I watched in awe until
I clued in, something
wasn’t right
about this
.
My nerves became
rattled when I realized
,
n
o one enjoys
drinks
by
seductively running their tongues up and down the glass
.
That’s when I realized it wasn’t wine they were drinking, but blood.
T
remendously
uncomfortable
, I
grabbed
tightly onto Daray’s hand
,
hoping
for protection
.
A male
vampire
didn’t shift
his eyes
from me
for
a
split s
econd.
“Daray, can we go somewhere else?”
Lakylee
,
the half-
breed,
lunged
forward
bear
ing
her fangs
snarl
ing
as she headed right towards
me
.
I
jumped
out of her w
ay and called out for Jayce.
I needed his help.
Daray
hiss
ed
in protest.
“Her?
All this
,
for
her?
You’ve searched for so many nights, then she calls out for another man, and you’re okay with this?
”
She
retaliated
with
an
e
vil glare
.
“Mind y
our tongue, Lakylee,” he warned.
“And, your eyes.”
Irritated, she sat back down. However, her intimidation continued as
she
proceeded to
lick
her lips
,
smear
ing
blood across her mouth
. W
ith a
wicked chuckle
,
she
playfully
asked
.
“Something the mat
t
er
?”
“Nope, nothing at all,
”
I lied.
I wanted Jayce, my protectors, anyone t
hat
could come save me from the
mess I’d gotten myself into.
“Sure about that?” She wasn’t fooled.
Her eyes penetrated the depths of my soul.
Unsure, what to do,
I tugged
on
Daray
’s arm
for assistance
.
“Enough!” he scolded. He
led
me
out of
the uncomfortable room
.
R
umbling noise
s
c
ame from
rooms
below.
I tried ignoring
it
as I attempted
to pull myself
back
together.
Lakylee
had go
tten under my skin and
I
couldn’t shake the feeling
she wasn’t going to let this go
.
I was on
her turf and she didn’t like me
one bit.
I heard another
noise
and
clearly
re
cognized a growl
.
Obviously,
this
was
a giant mistake
.
These beings were more monster than human
. I
couldn’t
stay here. I needed to get as far away
from them
as
possible
.
‘Jayce, please, I
need your
help.’ I couldn’t feel him and
knew
I
was
still
on my own.
I looked around
trying to
figure out
an
escape route.
I spot
ted a loose board in the window.
Knowing I could squeeze through i
t
, I
started to
move
towards
it
, but
Daray
grabbed
my hand. I tried to
pull away,
but
h
e
shot
me
a look
,
making
my heart
stop
. I
quit
fighting
as
he
led me
down a darkened hallway.
I
really doubted
Daray
and this
whole
situation.
He
didn’t speak
to me
much
and
I
seriously
disliked the trance he
kept placing
me under
. I wante
d to be in con
trol and
keep my head on straight.
His followers were something else altogether. I didn’t car
e if I ever set eyes on them
again;
t
hey made my skin crawl, m
iserable monsters.
Why
weren’t
they
like the beautiful vampires
in the
books
I’d read or movies I’d watched
?
Those vampires
were flawless,
sensual
,
and even
seductive. Irresistible wasn’t anywhere close to how I’d describe the
monsters
in the other room.
The
ones
Daray kept
company with
were
scary; t
heir dark eyes
,
pale skin
, sheer wickedness,
were
n’t
flattering
to me
whatsoever
.
Still, they
managed to
maintain a strange
appeal
and even
came across
as
captivating,
but
e
ither way
, n
ot one hint of good
ness remained
.
Their souls
v
anished the day they
changed.
Daray picked up on my overwhelming
fear
and turned
to face me in the dark hallway
.
I felt
his
power
regaining
control
. “
My sweet, t
hey
shall not
cause you
harm.
Come…”
He teased me with his finger
-
tips. “
I want to
show you.”
It
felt like a dream. He was going to show me he could make the
mean
vampires
treat me better. We were going to start again, a new introduction. I
nstead
he
opened a
secret
door
behind me.
L
et
ting
go of
the tight grip on my hand,
I knew I had
no choice other tha
n
to follow
him
. I heard
the same
growling noise and held my breath,
terrified o
f what I was about to see.
Daray led
the way
as we made our
descent
.
A rotten musky smell, mixed with other scents
I couldn’t
quite
recognize
, stung my nose and made
me choke
. I fought
back the reflex
urging me
to gag.
T
he
narrow stairs squeaked with every
step.
My heart pounded quickly. W
here was he taking me?
T
hic
k
dirty
black pipes lined the
ceiling while
a
patchy
mixture of grey and brown
ceme
nt covered
the walls and floor.
Towards the bottom of the staircase
it got darker and
the
growls
became much louder.
Frightened
and unsure, I
grabbed onto Daray’s cool hand
,
hoping
for
some reassurance. He
pulled
away, leaving me scared an
d alone. I was about to yell
out
when he
turn
ed
on the light.
Only a few feet away, were the piercing, fiery red eyes of the doomahorns.
I
covered my mouth,
gasping
.
I
felt
their breath
upon me
a
s they
huffed and
struggled
,
trying
to break free
from the
ir
thick restraints
.
I shifted my eyes
towards
the steel cages
containing
the
w
erewolves
,
who
let
out angry growls.
A
mixture of
d
rool
and
blood
splattered
as t
he
y
smashed violently
against
the
bars
.
These
beasts
were
vicious
,
downright awful
and f
or some reason
,
appeared angrier
now
tha
n
at
our first encounter
.
They s
eemed disturbed by my presence so
I tried
backing away, but
Daray shoved me closer. I stood within arm
’
s reach
of a doomahorn; saw its
ter
rifying eyes and something else, t
here was a look
deep in the
middle of that
red eye
.
Right then
, something
really
stood out
to me. T
hey
were
being
kept as prisoners
. M
aybe they weren’t allies
,
as
the
other
immortals
suspected?
I
turned
, ready to faceoff over
t
his
unjust
cruelty
,
when he
forcefully
spun
me
towards the beasts and then
back
towards
him.
Deciding
we’d had enough,
Daray
a
bruptly
shut
the light
off,
grabbed
a hold of
my hand
and pulled me back
upstairs.
“You wanted to show me something?”
“I already did, not to worry.”
“
You did?”
For a moment,
I
almost
didn’t remember leaving this hallway.
He looked deeply into my eyes.
I had his full
attention
and
saw a
kindness
.
He
was
different, not quite so cold
,
as he
spoke
in a
gentl
e manner
.
“
My
sweets,
you are
always
safe with me.
Until the end
of time, you
r
heart will beat
by my side
,
where it has
always belonged.” His cool lips
breezed along
my neck
, making me
tingle
.
I found
the
resemblance
of
the man
living
in my memories.
He wasn’t dead;
far from it,
he was alive, t
houghtful
,
and
caring
,
and
standing
in front of
me.