Chapter 8 | A Lot to Learn

Raya

I wake up feeling refreshed because…  I don’t know the last time that I slept for so long, but I’m also starving. Normally, I’d want eggs or pancakes or you know, something normal for breakfast.

Not today.

Today, for the first time in my life, I find myself craving blood.

I only tasted blood once yesterday, is this really how my life is going to be? Constantly craving it and feeing like a monster because it feels like I need it? Did this happen because I got my first real taste of it yesterday or is it just something that occurred because I’m not 18?

My stomach lets out a loud grumble and it snaps me out of my thoughts. Okay, so, I’m craving real food too. Surely, that’s a good sign.

It must be daytime by now so the vampires are probably asleep by now… right? Like, wouldn’t they be nocturnal? If they’re asleep then it would give me an opportunity to roam around my new home and potentially figure out the way to escape it.

I push myself out of the bed and ignore the fact that for the first time in my life, I feel refreshed and free. I don’t know if it’s because I slept on a comfortable bed or because I drank blood or if it’s just the knowledge of knowing that I don’t have to hide who I am here… regardless of the reason, I feel better than normal.

I creak my door open and peek my head out to look around the hall. I don’t see any signs of a vampire around so I slip out the door and head out to hunt for the kitchen. The aching in my stomach has grown and I’m not sure how much longer I can survive without eating.

It wasn’t too hard to find the kitchen. I had to go down the hall and down a flight of stairs and then I took a right and down the hall, it opened up into a large kitchen with the largest refrigerator I’ve ever seen. My mouth fills with saliva and my stomach grumbles loudly just from the thought of food.

I rush to the refrigerator, but when I open it my nose immediately scrunches up because all that was in here was blood. It’s like they had their own personal blood bank with how much was in here!

Each one was marked with what kind of creature it was from and I closed the door back fearing that if I stared any longer that I would find details of a human on one of the bags.

The thought of drinking blood still seemed unappetizing even if it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting last night. But I don’t want to accidentally drink someone else’s blood and risk one of the vampires here being angry with me.

I sigh as I clutch my empty belly and then look around the room, surveying my surrounding. This place was beautiful and classical… kind of like a gothic victorian style house. It makes me feel like I should be in a fancy dress to match the fancy interior. I vaguely remember what the outside of this castle looked like, I bet that it’s just as gorgeous as the inside.

I reach forward to look in the cabinets, desperate to find some morsel of food, but I jump when a voice behind me says, “Sorry, we’re not accustomed to having humans around.”

I turn back to look at him, slamming the cabinet door shut as I do. My eyes flicker up to meet Blade’s. His dark burgundy eyes seem to peer into my soul, he wears gray sweatpants, and a white t-shirt. He has his arms crossed and I can see how his biceps bulge out of his shirt.

Lust floods through me for a moment and my mouth salivates at the thought of tasting his blood. Is this normal?!

He tilts his head back towards the exit as he asks, “Would you like a tour of the house?”

I slowly nod my head and then he walks closer to me, I tense up for a moment wondering if he was angry with me or something. But he walks right by me and grabs two Styrofoam cups and fills them up with blood. He puts lids on them and straws and then holds the cup out to me and says, “You’re welcome to it, if you want it.”

I’m hesitant, but my grumbling tummy doesn’t give me much of an option. As I take the cup from his hands, my fingers brush against his and I’m alarmed by how cold they are. It felt colder than ice and I wish I could hold his hands and warm them up in mine. He tells me, “We get the blood from blood drives or animals we’ve caught in the forest. We try hard not to have to drink from tap. Especially with humans, although, some of us has more restraint than others.”

He rolls his eyes with that last sentence and I can’t help but wonder what he means by that. Who has less restraint? I would guess Luther, but I don’t know how many vampires are in this castle that it could be multiple.

He walks out of the kitchen and I follow behind him slowly sipping through my straw and being pleasantly surprised by a slightly sweet tang that this… drink has to it. It makes me better to think of it as a beverage instead of what it truly is.

As he walks me around the house I ask, “How long have you lived here?”

His eyebrows furrow and his lips pucker a little as he glances back at me as if I’ve asked him something ridiculous. He says, “I’m not sure. We own lots of different places and have hopped around a bit. I’m not sure how long we’ve owned this one.”

I nod and ask, “How many of you live here? I know there’s you and your brothers and I think you mentioned your father. Is anyone else here?”

He tilts his head back and forth as he says, “Technically, yes. They all live on the lower level though and only interact with us if it’s an emergency.”

“So, if I stayed here, would I be on the lower level?”

In the blink of an eye, my back is pressed against the wall and Blade’s arms are caging me in and his voice is low and husky as he tells me, “Let’s get this straight, pet.” Why is it that when he calls me that and looks at me this way that I’m more turned on than I’ve ever been in my life?

He continues, “You will be staying here. You belong to us now. And no, you will never go down and be with them. You will always stay up here where I can watch you.”

My voice wavers as I ask, “Why do you need to watch me?”

Blade scoffs as he pushes off the wall and walks down the hall, expecting me to just follow him as he answers, “You’ve got a lot to learn about our world, pet. It’s more dangerous than you realize.”