Bitter Revenge

Chapter 12

I'd been here for a week, genuinely starting to warm up to Stella but keeping my distance for sure. But today was different, she woke up late at around 11 a.m. She walked into my room with coffee, and her hair was a mess around her shoulders. "Hey Fiona, sorry for coming in so late. Here's your coffee." She handed it to me and I could actually receive the mug since she got a longer pair of cuffs a while back. "Morning bed head. What crawled up your ass and stayed there all night?" I joked, making a laugh ring through the room. "I was actually up late thinking about a deal. You in?" She smirked, and I sipped the coffee to consider whether I wanted to hear this. "Depends." She shrugged, sitting down in front of me. "I want to put my trust in you. I will allow you to walk around the house freely, if you promise me you won't run off. How does that sound?" Honestly, it sounds like you've never held anyone captive before. I have multiple windows of time where I could run away and you won't even notice.

But as I peered into her eyes, trying to analyze her, I saw a hint of fear hiding behind her eyes. Something I've started to see throughout this week is that although Stella is being patient with me, she's slowly starting to lose grip of that patience. It's almost as if she's getting desperate, and I feel horrible that I'm the reason for that desperation. My thoughts have switched from how do I escape to how can I help her? "Sure. I promise you that I won't try running away." When her hand reached out with her pinky out, I couldn't help but chuckle and reach out with difficulty to intertwine my pinky with hers. A swirl of light blue magic danced around our pinkies, making me realize that magic was now holding that promise over my head. She smiled, although I could see she was a bit wary but was trying to convince herself it was a good idea. She reached around and unlocked the handcuffs, which would be the first time we've just been with each other freely in a week. I slowly walked over to the table to grab at least some of my things, seeing as my phone was no longer here. Wallet in back left pocket, keys in front left, and I just put my beanie on my head.

I decided I wanted to cook, surprisingly. I walked into the kitchen and turned to her, washing my hands. "I feel like cooking, what would you like?" She sat on the sofa, considering her options. "Do you know how to make spaghetti?" I just smiled, looking around every cabinet for the spaghetti. "I should be offended, but I guess I am a vampire. I can cook just about anything." When I found it, I got to work. I heard her watching some normie show and laughed from the kitchen. "Not gonna lie, I took you as the anime type. So I'm surprised to hear you are watching a normie's show." I joked, but when she gave me a weird look I had an epiphany. "You don't know what anime is, do you?" She just shook her head, I could've cried at that moment. I walked over there and snatched the remote, leaving Money Heist. "I'm setting you up to watch an anime. I'm going to assume you like romance because you look like the type so I'm gonna put you up to watch Maid Sama."

While she seemed to get completely invested in the show, I took the plate to her. It's her home, so she should be able to eat wherever she feels like it. "What do you think, Strawberry?" I asked, as soon as the pasta had touched her mouth. She chewed silently, still intently watching Maid Sama. Then swallowed and nodded, seemingly a little surprised. "It's soooo good. I didn't take you for a chef. Were you turned?" She asked a little bit quieter, finally turning away from the TV to look at me. I guess I haven't told her my fact for the day. "Yeah. I was human up until my late teens." She grinned a little bit, as if I had just told her I bought her a gift and she was containing her happiness. "So you have tried 'people food', and were actually able to digest it. That's good to hear." She turned back to Maid Sama and I just watched with her, getting hooked on it again.

We would've continued and probably finished the entire anime until she saw the time, "Oh crap! I gotta go to work tomorrow. Come here." She stood up and held her hand out, making me get up and silently slip my hand into hers. She led me to the upstairs section of the house, making me nervous to be going to the "reserved" section of the house. All the manners that've been ingrained in my head started flashing red flags, but I tried to relax. "This can be your new room." She opened the door and I walked into a princess paradise. I gave her a really bitch? look as I widened my arms to the literal faded pink walls around me. She just laughed, finding my reaction hilarious. "I know it's definitely not your style, but bear with me. Unless you'd like to move all of the furniture downstairs by yourself?" The thought of moving even half of the things here made me tired. "No, I'll deal with it. Was this your room?" I asked as I looked around and even in some cabinets. "No actually. My current room has always been my room, well at least in this house. I'll let you get settled in, good night."

I opened my wallet, which had my money and cards and all that fun stuff. But there's a secret little pocket, where I kept my private stuff. Stella had left for the night, which gave me time to make sure the pictures were still there. I pulled out both pictures, sighing when they were exactly how I'd left them. I opened one up, seeing the picture of my family. Violet and I were in the middle, with our parents behind us. The color was faded, and there were white marks down the middle from where I bent it. Looking at me from when I was younger made me cringe, seeing the long light hair. But Violet? She beamed into the camera, her dirtier blonde hair only reaching her upper back. She had a cute red ribbon holding 2 sections of her hair behind her head, and her water blue-green eyes were still perfectly visible in the age-old picture. I put the family picture back in the hidden pocket, then opened up the second one.

My heart clenched at the sight, but I couldn't help but smile. It was a picture I paid for, since I had just gotten my wallet and I wanted a picture of me and Violet in it. I was 17, the same year of the incident. Violet was 15, her hair had gotten curlier and reached down to her lower back. Her face had matured, but her adorable eyes stayed as clear as ever. I was a good 3 inches taller than her, I don't know why we were both so short when our parents were a decent or above average height. My arms were wrapped around her shoulders with her back to my front, both of us were trying to contain our laughter since we just couldn't stop giggling for no reason. I smiled and folded it again, closing my wallet and putting it on a dark brown nightstand with two cabinets in it. I wonder why the walls are faded pink, but the furniture had intricate and frankly mature designs.

I thought back to my situation, trying to see it from Stella's perspective. Why is she getting impatient? Wasn't she ordered to hold me captive? Wait, why here? If I'm a prisoner to the Royal Coven, why the hell am I being held in this house? And why is the last thing on my mind running away?! It must be matehood, keeping me still and hoping to learn more about my mate. On top of that, I want to help her. There has to be a reason she's getting desperate. What can I do?