RALPH The telephone jarred the second time annoyingly, drawing me out of my terrible dream. I sighed, reached for the phone by the bed stand, and put it to my ear. "Why the fuck did you call me this early?" I asked whoever was on the line. "The prisoner." "What prisoner?" I asked, becoming irritated. "The girl that fell from the roof three nights ago. She is raising hell in the basement." I sat up in bed and removed the hand of one of the females wrapped around my chest. I could not believe I had forgotten about the girl since that night. "The thief? Why did you all not remind me about her?" I threw another woman's leg around my waist, and when I got off the bed, the third woman on the bed crashed to the floor. I grabbed my dark robe and donned it. The women still slept when I left the room, but they knew better than lying there when I returned. I went into my library and ordered a cup of coffee, then called for the woman to be brought. H
JOVITA The clothes were rags. They were ugly, oversized, and drapey. After looking at the clothes, I only realized Ana was dressed the same way too. I thought she became skinnier, but the dress made her look that way. "Uhm... female humans are not allowed to wear anything fitting,” Ana said as if she read my mind. "Why?" "We are not just supposed to look attractive. I feel the vampires are insecure about their pale skin— the female vampires. They do not want the men getting carried away by us— I don't really know why, but it has been like this since we came." "Hmm, well, they should brace themselves for me because I love breaking the rules." "Jo, please. I do not want to lose you. You cannot play the hero here. You must wear the dress immediately so I can take you to him." The knock came at the door again, and I saw a flash of fear in Ana's eyes. I furrowed my brows at her because her level of anxiety irritated me. Ana was never a fearful
RALPH How dare she? How dare she disrespect me like that? First, she crashed into my club from the roof and fought my men. Now she talked to me like she had never heard of me? I wanted to get out of Colbert's hands and strangle the female, collapsed in a fit of cough with my hands. Who does she think she is? "Insolent humans," I gritted. By now, I had forgotten all about the prophecy and wanted to drive the bitch beyond. "I can take her away if she is proving too difficult to answer," Colbert offered. I had encountered many beautiful women, but none affected me as she did. I was intrigued by her at first. She was fearless and irrationally bold for a human, especially a female. Female humans were fearful and obedient and do not meet my eyes or try to fight with my men. I knew she must be something special, but I did not want to focus on the wrong person while the right person fulfilled her destiny. Viktor said there would be distractions, and it was true.
JOVITA A few hours passed after Uncle Kala left me in the living room, but nothing happened. I sat there waiting for anyone to come and pick me up. I knew the outside was filled with thirsty vampires, and they easily hurt humans. I did not want anything that would trigger me to retaliate again. I heard pounding footsteps and muffled voices a few minutes later and hid behind one sofa in the living room. The footsteps became louder, and the voices became more apparent. It was Lord Ralph and the other man. I stayed there, holding my breath, hoping they would not smell me. In no time, he came into my view. His demeanor was relaxed now, and he spoke with his brother, telling him he would get back to him. I did not know what they discussed or what his brother did to make him calm. He suddenly turned toward the direction I was in. I ducked behind the chair immediately, hoping he did not see me. I did not want him to see me, but I knew I would be discovered sooner. He left the
JOVITA Approaching footsteps reached my ears, and when I opened my eyes, I saw different faces peering down at me— human faces. "Jo?" I heard Ana's voice call slowly. I tried to sit up and was helped by many other hands. When I sat up, I saw girls of all ages staring at me in awe. My ribs pricked, and my mouth hurt, but I was more than glad to be with my fellow humans. Something tickled down my nose, and I saw blood when I touched it. "Oh, my God," one of the girls exclaimed, wiping my nose as quickly as possible. "If they see your blood, it will get worse. These vampires can never get enough of our blood. That is why they are not allowed in here." Ana came and shoved some of the girls away and hugged me. "You made it," she said, relief flooding her voice. I was surprised at first and confused about why she was overwhelmed seeing me, but then I remembered What the jealous vampire had said to me. Ana pulled away from me. "You must be the luck
JOVITA I did not even touch my food before another male vampire dragged me away. The other girls gasped as I was taken away, thinking they would harm me. My hands were tied this time, and I was dragged up the stairs toward the same library room I had run away from. He opened the door and shoved me inside; I did not fall this time. Lord Ralph was dressed in a black tailored suit that hugged his frame like a second skin. His back was on me when I entered. His physique was attractive. I cautioned myself when I realized I was assessing him. "Leave us alone," he said to the vampire that brought me in. The man stepped back and left the room, gently closing the door behind him. We were alone in the room, and I felt strange once again. Goosebumps that did not come out of fear blanketed my skin once more. Lord Ralph turned to face me with a clap of his hands. I glared into his eyes, momentarily forgetting their compelling power. "I have your time now. Have a
RALPH Jovita. Jovita. Jovita. The name kept replaying in my head. I knew there was something about her that wasn't just right. My driver opened the door immediately, and I got into the back seat with my face crumpled with a frown. I have never come across anyone with that name in centuries. Everything about this woman was mysterious, and what's more bizarre was that I could not bring myself to punish her the way I wanted. Something was holding me back, and for the first time in my vampiric life, I could not put my hand to the reason I took action. She tried to hide it after my first assault on her, but she was feisty and mysterious. She was unique. Now, I am torn between showing this human who ruled the world and finding out who she was. If she is not the one the prophecy spoke about, I don't know who is. I am firmly convinced that she is the one. The reactions I get when she is around, I have never gotten since I became a vampire. For the first time in centuries, I
JOVITA Darkness. Pitch darkness wrapped around me like a blanket, clutching me, ready to drain the life out of me. My eyes could not be accustomed to it; I could see nothing. My eyes dashed around, looking for a source of light and escape, but there was none. There was only darkness. Where is this place? Who is here? What am I doing in this dark place? Those questions rang in my head, but I could not provide the answers myself. The darkness was suffocating me, and I waved my hands in front to make out what was before me, but it was only space, yet I felt a presence. Movement. Swift, an almost undetectable movement. I stood in the darkness alone, yet I felt eyes on me. Someone was watching me, lurking in the darkness that surrounded me. My hand reached for my stake tucked into my waistband, gripping it so tightly that my knuckles went white. My heart was hammering in my ribcage, and goosebumps had taken over my skin, but I kept hope alive an
JOVITA The event of the previous night stayed with me throughout the day and into the night, occupying me when I was alone. As usual, I went to throw the thrash out, but only one thing remained in my mind and that was the image of lord Ralph having sex with the girl. Anytime I think of this, there was this rippling sensation I get. I had being trying to forget about it but it was all I could think of. The fire his mouth and tongue lit on my body still lingered and even though I had taken my bath twice today, his scent still lingered on me. I sighed, what was wrong with me? Why did I keep thinking about it? This was a man I was supposed to kill not fuck. But I could not help it. He arose those feral desires in me. I huffed deeply and walked away from the thrash can. I looked up again at the bright moon in the sky and thought about Bryce. How was he? Is he out of comma? "I see the moon makes you think of me," a deep voice I knew too well said. I looked
RALPH "I will make you want me, but I will not fuck you." That was my mouth speaking, but I wanted to rip her legs apart and fuck her until she forgot her own name. I only have an ounce of control remaining as I work my way through her body. Jovita. I hated the name, but I wanted to fuck the girl. She was in my head every time, even when I was not thinking about her. I thought doing all those things would make me forget her. Maltreating her, removing her from being my assistant. I thought making her hate me would make me hate her, but it made me fucking miss her. I wanted her. I wanted her every fucking night. In a bid to get her out of my system, I go to my club and fetch many vampire women. I slept with them to get her out of my system, but she was there when I had sex with them. Her body was the only thing I thought of when I fuck those women and the only image that drove me to climax. I had lost count of how many times I had masturba
RALPH I pulled into the compound and saw Kala, my driver, waiting for me. I decided to indulge him and know what he thought about me being the reason for the boy's demise, but before I could even get out of the car, my assistant, whom I hadn't asked her name yet, came walking up to me with a news Colbert had insisted on going down and using the public transport to go back to his city. Our argument did not end well, and I was grumpy. This was the first time Colbert blatantly disagreed with me on anything. It left me sorer than I cared to admit. "Welcome, Lord Ralph. You have a visitor." "I am not entertaining visitors now," I said, tossing my keys to Kala. "Hello, there," someone greeted from a few feet. I looked up to see Andres. My heart fell low inside my stomach. I looked from him to my assistant as if wanting her to explain things to me, but she offered no help. It was quite a relief that I got rid of Colbert on the way. "What are you doing
RALPH I did not need my driver today, so I took the car keys from him. Colbert watched me, wondering what was going on in my mind. I signaled him to enter the car as I sat in the driver's seat. He came in and sat in the passenger's seat. "Alright, where are we going to?" he asked. "I wanted to make it none of my business, but now that you asked, I think I will pick up this case." "Are you really saying you didn't do that? Do you have an alibi?" Jovita was supposed to be my alibi. I was kissing and carrying her to bed around that time, but I could not say that to Colbert. He will project this love thing again. "Of course not. I know this is difficult to believe but trust me, I did not do this. Someone is trying to set me up, but what worries me is the reason for that." "Maybe another vampire that is secretly into her?" I did not like the sound of that. No other male will touch her. I zoomed off, heading straight to the hospita
JOVITA Lord Ralph stared at me without blinking. I stood there contemplating jumping into the sea behind me. Did he see me? Did he notice I was going through his stuff? "What did you think you were doing, human?" His voice was cold and steel. It sounded more like a growl. "I... I... I was..." I lost what to say. What could I possibly say to him? Hey, I was checking out your secrets, and I know them now. He stalked toward me, and I took a few steps back. Resentment and anxiety were warring inside me, and anxiety was winning more. My hands shook, and my lips shivered. I could feel the rage he exuded. He hated me enough to give me hard labor for nothing; he hated me enough to beat Bryce to a pulp. Nothing would stop him from killing me right now. "You feel you can disobey me?" He took off his jacket and started to unbuckle his belt. My eyes widened. What? Was he going to hit me? I bet I misjudged this man. He was worse than everything they said he was.
JOVITA I rolled the cart into the event center and looked around; the vampires were chattering amongst themselves. I handed them over to one of the servers and reclined in the corner, waiting for another order. My eyes ran around the place and locked with the lord called Landon. He had a crooked smile plastered on his face and signaled me to come over. I approached him and saw Lord Ralph watching me with a jaw sharp enough to slice me in two. I hated him and wanted to hurt him so badly. I walked up to the vampire that called me and doubled over to hear what he had to say. "I will eat you. You look so delicious," he whispered into my ear. I felt like vomiting all over his face. I straightened up and flashed him a fake smile. "What do you want? Some blood?" I asked, still holding my phony smile. Someone grabbed my arm from behind, and I looked to see Lord Ralph staring at me with fury in his eyes. I tried to snatch my hand from him, but he held me tightly.
JOVITA "Hello there, pretty one. I am Lord Landon, nice to meet you." "Hello," I said and moved away from his way. "Excuse me." I made to leave, but he grabbed my hand and I stopped me right in front of me. His hand was colder than most vampires. Something about him seemed troublesome. "Eh eh, not so fast, human. I guess you are going with me tonight." "Lord Landon, let the girl do her job," someone said from behind, relieving me. I turned to see Lord Ralph's brother standing behind us. I sighed with relief when the other man's hand left me. He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Well, if it is not the goody-two-shoes," the other Lord muttered. "What are you doing here, Landon?" Lord Colbert asked. "Am I not supposed to be here? This is a traditional vampire gathering and I do not rememeber Viktor banning me from coming here." I took that as my cue to leave. My face cheeks were hot and my heart pounded in my ribcage. I did not know why that L
JOVITA I had a dream the previous night and saw Lord Ralph in it. I found myself on my bed when I woke up, and my lips were still sore. However, I did not want to believe it was Lord Ralph that brought me up to bed because he could not care that much and had just shown it by showing me his ruthlessness. After sending Bryce to the junkyard to work on a bartered car, he added to my chores yesterday. I knew I would give him a piece of my mind sometime, but I would hold my peace now until I could not take it anymore. Ana was already gone when I woke up, so I did not get to ask who put me to bed. I knew it was Bryce, and we would Iron out things today. I went down the stairs and was surprised to see many people in the yard and police cars and ambulances. I also noticed some people were looking at me. I spotted Ana in a corner, and she saw me, too, and walked over to me. She grabbed my hand and dragged me toward the backyard without letting me speak. "What is going on? Why i
RALPH I paced in my room with a glass of blood in my hand and ran the other finger over my hair. I thought I was over her. I had convinced myself about that, but all my resolve crashed when I saw her with that mechanic boy. I did not know what to do. The only way to stop this is to send her away from me, but even as she is far from me, I yearned for her presence. Have they slept together? Has he tasted what was mine? Has he done everything I fantasized about doing to her? I will have to kill that boy. They even call them love birds now. I sighed and sat on the edge of my bed. If I kill him, everyone will suspect it was because of Jovita, and they would all say I killed him out of jealousy. I was Lord Ralph; I was not supposed to be jealous. I downed the blood in my hand and stood up again. I could not sleep, and even after coming up with different methods of keeping them apart, I still was not comfortable. A knock came at the door, interrupting my thoughts. I spun toward