As soon as I reached home, I slammed the door shut behind me and went straight to my room. I rushed to pack my stuff as fast as possible. To a human eye, I was like a blur, moving around. I had to get out of there and fast before they could show up again and do the unthinkable.
"I’d better hurry before they find my house." I was breathing harshly. Not because I was out of breath, but because I was nervous and anxious. My heart was beating frantically in anticipation. I didn't want to meddle in vampire affairs. I just wanted to spend a life as normal as a human life could be. I knew they would follow me and find me soon.
When I was done packing my clothes and some necessary stuff, I raced down the flight of stairs. My eyes went wide when I opened the door.
Epic was standing there. What the hell is she doing here? Isn't she supposed to be at school?
"What are you doing here? And why didn't you call me before coming?"
I almost yelled at her. She was staring at me with a shocked expression as if she thought I had gone insane and then looked down at the bag in my hand.
"Why? Are you going somewhere? Also, why do you look so panicked? Is something wrong? Anyways, you are the one who called me and said there's an emergency and I have to come back right now. Then why are you spitting all this nonsense?" She said walking inside.
I was so confused about what she was saying. When did I call her? I was about to ask her when someone’s voice came from the living room. A deep evil voice.
"We called you here, not her." Both Epic and I snapped our heads towards the source of that dark voice together. There, three figures appeared from the dark, just like earlier in the alley.
My eyes widened at the realization as I cursed under my breath. They were the same three vampires who were in the alley. I pushed Epic behind me in a protective stance and glared at them. Although my heart was beating frantically with the anxiety of what was going to happen, I would never let them touch my sister.
"What are you doing here and how did you manage to come in?" Now I was less scared and more possessive for the safety of my sister. My voice was confident as if I was a warrior. Besides, I also knew some fighting moves. I was not that hopeless, I guess.
"You don't seem so stupid. You should know what vampires are capable of." A smirk appeared on his face as he stared at Epic. She was standing behind me silently, but the trembling of her figure didn't go unnoticed by me. I just wanted to get her out of there safe and sound.
"V-vampires?" Epic said in utter shock and confusion. I couldn't help but let out a sigh in helplessness. The truth I wanted to hide from her so desperately was revealed in the worst-case scenario.
"Yes, vampires, darling. Now if you will excuse us." Saying this, he snapped his gaze back at me. I held his gaze just as fiercely. I wasn't going to show any sign of weakness to them. I knew better than what happened to weaklings in this world of ruthless bloodsuckers. I was repulsed by the nature of this existence that I was a part of.
"What do you want?!" I asked, still staring angrily at them. His playful expression morphed into a poker one as he glared back at me.
"We have already told you. Come with us or pay the consequences." He said with a cold expression.
"I already said. I will not go anywhere with you freaks. Now if you will not get out of here, I will kick your bloody asses out!" I yelled at them. I acted tough in front of them, but even I knew that I didn't stand a chance against them.
What am I supposed to do now?
Epic fisted the back of my top and she was trembling badly. I wanted to comfort her but I wasn't going to give those suckers a chance to attack us first.
"Looks like it's going to be fun." Saying this, he lunged at me, and in a blink of an eye, he threw me at the wall behind me. Pain spread throughout my body and I slumped down on the floor.
I felt blood pool behind my head as my vision started to get blurry. I began to feel light-headed. I blinked several times to clear my vision and keep myself conscious. But the last thing that I heard was Epic calling out for me and then I lost consciousness.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
*It was dark. There was a hopeless silence lurking in the chilly atmosphere. My heart was aching. I didn't like darkness. Suddenly, I heard a voice."Help me!""Alice!""Help me!"I knew that voice. How couldn't I? It was Epic's voice. The voice was echoing in my mind. Urging me to wake up from this deep slumber and come to her aid. But.....where?*I woke up, startled, and soon pain shot up my head. The flashes of past night flickered through my mind and realization hit me."Where is Epic?" My voice came out crumbled. I quickly got up on my feet with much effort. I was still feeling dizzy but I had more important things to do than to worry about it. There seemed to be a pool of blood dried on the floor where I had been lying. I didn't waste time pondering over it. I searched every room of the house, even outside the house. She was nowhere in sight.I was worried sick for her. Where would ha
Aaron's POV:It was hard for me to make my sweet mate suffer like that. But I had no choice. If I told her that she was my mate, then she might not have accepted me. I had to make her fall for me first and then, I could tell her. But then things messed up and I ended up kidnapping her sister. I never wanted to do that. And now it was even more difficult than before to make her fall for me. She thinks I am a monster!Great!I let out a deep sigh. She was sitting so close to me yet so far at the same time. I couldn't touch her, feel her or comfort her worries......because I was the cause of her worries.Her scent was intoxicating. Her hazel brown long hair, bright blue eyes that resembled the deep blue ocean, her soft fragile body, everything was so mesmerizing about her. I'm so lucky to have her as my mate. But she doesn't recognize me yet.That may be because of her lack of vampire senses
Aaron's POV:She was so angry with me. How was I supposed to change her heart? She was beyond furious. I knew I was not answering her questions and this was pissing her off but I had no choice. This was not the right time to tell her."Huh? Are you stupid or what? You kidnapped me and my sister? Now you want me to stay here for some shitty reason, which by the way, you’re not even bothering to tell me," she snarled, mentally killing me with her eyes. Her words stabbed my heart. I was so miserable because of all the mess that I had unintentionally created when all I wanted was to hold my dear mate in my arms.How dare she talk about our mate bond like that? My love is not shit. How can she say such a thing? Rage suddenly hit me and I lost my cool."This is not for a shitty reason," I bellowed. "You are supposed to be here! You are meant to be here with me!"She looked momentarily confu
Alice's POV:The next day when I woke up, I was feeling fresh and much more active than yesterday. I stretched my body, still lying in bed, and scanned my surroundings. This isn't my bedroom. Oh! Now I remember! I have been kidnapped and all that blah, blah, blah!My thoughts went back to last night. The scene of his beautiful hazel eyes with those unknown and confusing feelings flashed at the back of my mind.What were those feelings? It felt as if something deep was hidden behind those eyes. Like they held many, many secrets. His actions were bad but why did I feel like there was something to them? Was there something more to him just being the ‘bad guy'?Argh! Cut the crap! I should focus on finding my sister and get out of this hell. Where I should start looking though? This place is huge! How am I supposed to find her without getting lost myself?I remembered him saying something about a dungeon last ni
Alice's POV:I followed him out of the palace and got into the car with him. It was a black Mercedes. Figures, since he's a prince and all.The journey was silent. I wondered where he was taking me.After some time, the car stopped in front of a huge building. A huge billboard titled "Mark Enterprises" was on the top of the building entrance. Almost every person in the country knew this business, it was doing so well. I craned my neck to look at the top. The entire building was made up of blue glass and it was very beautiful."Do you have a meeting with the owner?" I asked, curiously elbowing him.He smiled brightly at my question. Is there something funny about that?"I'm the owner," he answered nonchalantly, a teasing smile playing in his eyes. One corner of his lips was tucked up making his handsome features stand out more.My jaw dropped as he walked away casually. He's the owner?! Th
Alice's POV:The company’s building was situated in a busy district. There were many other buildings there too, some shopping plazas and malls. Cafés and restaurants were a must of course. I thought Aaron would take me someplace fancy since he had all that prince thing going on, but damn!He took me to a café right in front of the building! No effort was put in at all. Even if I hated his guts right now, I couldn't help feel a bit disappointed and it made me feel ridiculous. We entered the café and my eyes roamed all around to have something to nitpick at. Surprisingly, the café was quite good looking from inside. The design was elegant and comprised of light colors, giving a relaxing feeling to the eyes. The sun had gone halfway done outside which meant more people would be soon shuffling in for suppers and dinners. Several people clad in business suits walked in and out of the café. A full busy hour in all hon
Alice's POV:I nearly clawed at the window in the room in frustration. No matter how hard I tried, even with my super vampire strength, the bars on it wouldn't come off. Heck, I couldn't even pry them loose enough to squeeze through.Dejected, I dragged myself over to the fluffy bed and plopped down. That royal-pain-in-the-butt Princey Aaron always had someone come in here every few hours to check up on me. I asked every single person for my sister but they refused to answer, instead just dropping off clothes and food for me.Which I had to wear and eat solely because of Epic. They changed my room though. I was now in one with a more “girlish" kind of setting. I wasn't impressed because in the end, he was my sister's kidnapper and it kind of took away the feeling that I was on vacation.This room was as fancy as the one I had been staying in before. The intel I got from the maids was that, apparently, I was staying in his highne
Alice's POV: Three days passed like a blur. All I had done was going office with the vampire prince, obeying his orders like the servant I was and then getting back to this luxurious prison. I was stuck here, in this hell hole without knowing any whereabouts about my sister. I wanted to hate his guts who had taken her away but at the same time, I felt like something was amiss about this entire situation. He hadn't hurt me since he'd brought me here. In fact, he made me work like a hog, which was annoying, but apart from that, he hadn't done anything at all. Not even a cosplay. Anyhow, the maids in this place were suspicious too. They stayed during the day, working their butts off, and then left during the night. Only the ones who had nowhere to go were always left behind. I wondered where the others lived. Maybe in their parents' houses, like I used to. The maids made it seem normal for their prince to forcefully keep someone inside his palace. In fa
Damon's POV Aaron was flushed with weakness in the office and knowing that he needed blood, I hurried to bring him back to the palace. It was a really difficult situation since humans worked in the building. I couldn’t leave him there among walking blood bags and couldn't bring blood there as well. I didn’t have enough time to do that. When we reached the palace, I took him straight to his room. On entering the room I realized that his mate, Alice, and another woman were present in the room. I didn’t have time for greetings as my senses were assaulted by an alluring odor. Before I could get myself back to my senses, his mate had already rushed to support him. This brought me back to my senses and before I could determine what the scent was, the other person had already rushed out of the room. An absurd impulse erupted from my heart, urging me to follow her. But Alice’s words kept me rooted in place and refocus on the matter at hand. Just when Aaron tried to wriggle out from the sev
The breakfast was pleasant but from time to time, there would be sparks flying in the air whenever Aaron or my father would serve something to me. Although father wanted to stay longer, he still had duties to attend and foremost, he wanted to go back sooner and start investigating Ashley and keep an eye on her. I felt warm in my heart knowing I had people around me who wanted to protect me from every harm and that I wasn’t alone anymore to bear the burden of life. Soon after father left, Aaron turned to me, intending to speak something when he was interrupted by a ringing. Aaron clamped his lips in annoyance. Nevertheless, he pulled out the phone to see the caller id. It read ‘Damon’ and I remembered the guy I had met in Aaron’s office. He was Aaron’s best friend and the person who helped remove Epic’s memories. The annoyance on Aaron’s face lessened when he saw the caller id and kissed me on the cheek when I was still thinking about this Damon guy and walk away to pick up the phon
I frowned in discomfort as the light from my closed eyelids disturbed my deep sleep. I grumbled in annoyance in an attempt to make the sheen disappear so that I could go back to my peaceful sleep. I moved to find a more comfortable position to block the light and finally stuffed my face in between pillows, warm, wide pillows. Kinda hard warm pillows. Wait. Are pillows supposed to be… uh, warm and hard? Suddenly my drowsiness vanished and was replaced with cautiousness. But before I could open my eyes and assess the situation around me, an arm tightened around my waist, pulling me further into the “hard and warm” pillow. I stiffened while my mind went blank. Then the memories of last night came crashing and I couldn’t help but feel my face burning hot in embarrassment. I couldn’t believe I did that! When we got back from our little walk, we bumped into Haron, my father. Aaron grabbed my hand tightly, assuring me that he was there for me. I appreciated his concern but I also knew t
After picking up the black velvet box, I opened it without thinking to see what was inside. My eyes widened when I looked at the diamond glinting at me. I quickly looked up at Aaron only to see him gapping in shock. His eyes met mine and many emotions were swirling in those warm brown eyes. He looked scared and confused, but mostly flustered. A flustered mate, and a silver ring with a big ass diamond. What did it indicate? Before I could think anymore, Aaron had found his words. He stepped closer, taking my hand which had the box in it, and took the box from his other hand. My hand was still in his hand. Instead of looking at me, he was staring intently down at the now-closed box. “Aaron?” I called out softly. For some reason, my voice was wavering. I didn’t what was making my heart feel heavy. Aaron gently looked into my eyes and after a while, a beautiful smile stretched across his beautiful face. His smile always bewitched me. At this point, he must be doing it intentionally.
Alice’s POV I felt numb. My mind was blank. The happiness of finding one lost family wasn’t there. Neither was the strangeness of discovering a stranger your father. It was just there, the fact that I found my real father after all these fateful twists. Fate is such an odd thing. I never thought that I would be played by it in such ways. After I lost both my adopted parents who had given me love, a safe home, and an adorable little sister, I never thought of getting anything more. Although they left an empty hole there, I was content with what I had at that moment. I never thought of getting a vampire mate, having to make blood-thirsty enemies, or finding my biological parents. I was living a fine uneventful life, excluding the half-vampire part, of course. “Alice, you are my and Viona’s daughter. There’s no doubt in that.” Haron repeated once he saw my lost expression. I was brought out of my thoughts by his words that still sounded foreign. I should have felt moved or emotional I
Alice's POV: I’m sure I looked like a deer caught in headlights. The words “full-vampire” were ringing in my head. I slowly looked at Aaron to ask for an explanation but he just shifted his eyes. I could see that much that he was guilty. Guilty of what? “H-how can I be a f-full-vampire….?” I asked dumbfoundedly. I was confused at first but now I was scared. Scared that I won’t be able to return to the human world, to my sister, if I turned into a full vampire. If I was converted then….. then what? I didn’t know what I was more afraid of. Maybe it was the foreign feeling that was gnawing at my heart. The pain that intensified with every passing moment of seeing Aaron flustered and hurt. I was becoming unaware of my own feelings. My mind was in between a state of confusion and awareness. Everything around me was familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time. I didn’t realize I had zoned out for long while Aaron was
Alice's POV: My body was in so much pain, it felt like someone was cutting my flesh off bit by bit. While my chest was so tight as if there was a black hole inside it, sucking my heart in and shredding it to pieces. I could sense my soul wilt away with every passing second. It felt like an eternity before the agony I was going through started to lessen and a foreign sensation started to take over my body. My aching body started to numb and I could feel the life coming back to me. I was more alive than ever. My fingers twitched and I started regaining control over my limbs fast. My eyes felt heavy but I forced them to open. I had enough of this darkness. It weighed on my heart. During all this pain, I always felt warmth. It told me that someone was waiting for me to come out of this darkness. Now all I wanted was to tear apart this darkness and reach out to the light. As my eyes opened, my senses came back to me. Brown hair filled my vision. T
Aaron's POV: My heart was beating faster than ever. It felt like it would jump out of my chest any moment now. I had never felt like that. Several thoughts were running through my mind and not even one was good. I hated myself for being so helpless. She was with me all time and still, something happened to her. I had called the imperial doctor who had been with our family for hundreds of years now. But not even he could figure out what happened to her yet. And here I was waiting helplessly for the diagnose. Finally, the doctor turned to me but his face wasn’t looking good. The premonition of something worse was eating my heart out. "H-how is she? What happened to her?" I asked breathlessly. The doctor was taken back for a moment after seeing my haggard form but I didn’t care at that moment. "Uh…. Your h-h-highness….. I-I’m sor—” "What happened to her?" I growled. My eyes flashed a dangerous glint and my killing
Alice's POV: "Replica, do you think I should just cancel today’s plan? I was so excited that I didn’t even think about not having a dress. What am I going to do now? Aaron would-“ “Alice! Stop freaking out.” Replica stopped me from pacing the whole room by grabbing my shoulders. I looked at her shocked for a moment before I grinned. She had said my name normally for the first. Before, it would be “Ma- A-Alice” or “A-A…lice”. Replica blushed but didn’t let go of my arms and just gave me a stern look. I dimmed my grin a bit to not tease her anymore. My previous worry again took over my mind. It’s been a week since that day when that bitch had her little tantrum. Aaron had been more passionate since then seeing that I had a few doubts because of that incident. No one can blame me for that. It was totally like one of those dramas where the ex-bitch-girlfriend would come and try to separate the couple and all. Cliché. Also, Aaron w