Escapism - A Fantasy Romance

Chapter 13: Hi James

I come to and jerk up into a sitting position. A low cry of pain hisses through my teeth and I reach up to cup the side of my neck. It feels like a coyote gnawed on my neck. I remember the vampire that mauled my neck and began scanning the room around me for danger. During my scan, a bit more awareness comes to my body and I realize I'm sitting in the bed that the body was on before. I also realize I can kind of make out the shapes of the room around me. Someone has lit a candle that is sitting right outside the door. I stare at it in confusion.

Then, a shadow blocks my view of the candle and I look up to see the red eyes of the vampire boy standing in front of me.

"They brought down that candle for you. I'm guessing you have someone out there watching out for you," the boy says.

I think my eyes are drying out from all of this staring.

"My name is James by the way," the boy continues. He then waits in silence for me to respond.

"I'm Lily," I stutter out.

"I know," he says with a smile. "I will be forever in your debt for saving me. Vampires take life debts very seriously."

This causes a startled laughter to burst out of me which continues on to hysterical laughter. James just waits for me to get myself back together. "From my experience," I reply wiping the tears of laughter from my cheeks, "Life debts don't mean much."

He raises his brow. "Well then, you must be dealing with some rather unsavory vampires then. Most vampires have an extreme sense of honor and loyalty to our debts above all else."

"Well, you should tell Byron that then," I reply dryly.

"Byron?" he asks with surprise coating his voice.

"Yeah, Byron. I helped him out of a situation, and he let me live here. But then something happened and he decided to have Alex lock me down here."

"That is certainly an interesting story, Lily. Do not worry as soon as you are up to moving about, I will inform the guards and we will be out of this dingy dungeon."

I can't even form words to make a reply. I guess this guy really is insane and that's why the locked him down here.

"Sorry by the way," James continues, "I was quite literally starving and I took a lot of your blood to replenish myself. Even though your blood packs a punch, I have been rotting down here for quite a long time."

"Why were you locked down here anyway?" I ask.

"It's a rather long story my dear, but seeing as we will be waiting here for a bit, I might as well start filling you in."

I stare at the odd vampire boy as he walks closer to me and sits on the end of the bed like we are having some sort of sleepover. A short burst of laughter escapes me at the lunacy of this whole situation. Maybe I'm still sleeping and this is all a dream? It would certainly be easier if that was the case.

James plops his hands into his lap and launches into his story. "Many years ago, I was helping Byron build his newest coven here, gathering trustworthy vampires that would remain loyal. I worked very closely with Leo."

My heart jumps at his name and my heart starts aching again. I wonder if he is oaky?

"We were getting a lot done, recruiting a lot of members, but the dark witches became a problem for all of the supernaturals and we got together under the instruction of the council leaders to fight back. They were simply too dangerous to let live. However, just like during any kind of war, the enemy fights back and even though we had help from white witches and other magical beings to avoid being susceptible to their dark influence, they came up with other strategies to strike back."