Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Six

I was too out of it to stop Vincent from pulling me out of the room and leading me down the hallway to the room Seraphina had disappeared into. It was another living room, with an undetermined number of people in it. I didn't trust my hazy eyes to count correctly. Vincent let go of my wrist and sat down in an armchair, tapping his lap as a place for me to sit down. I hesitated for a second and just as I was about to move toward him, two arms wrapped around my body and jaws clamped over my neck once again.

I felt my throat burn with a scream, pain exploding from my side as the arms tightened around me.

"Duke, be a dear and don't break him," I heard Vincent drawl in a bored tone. Something inside of me flared and then it died out as the arms around me let go.

I dropped to my knees, just barely catching myself before my face hit the carpeted floor. I shook and my injured arm, at last, gave out and I rolled to my back.

"You just had to go and claim him," the vampire that had drunk my blood slurred and I struggled to look and put a face to the voice. Duke. He was buff with a big nose and thick lips stained by my blood as he didn't bother to lick the blood off.

In a threatening manner, he lowered until he was crouching next to me. Roughly he brushed the black strands of hair off my eyes and stared down at me. Despite not being able to discern the lines of his face; despite my inability to get too many thoughts flowing; I looked up at the vampire with all the might and anger I possessed.

"Ah, this one has got some fight in him," he said and laughed.

"Vincent got himself a brat?" another voice called out and then morphed into obnoxious laughter. "Oh, this will be entertaining."

I needed to get out of here and fast. I had to figure out an escape plan because my instincts were screaming at me that I would not be surviving for long.

"His arm is bleeding," Seraphina said and I moved my head to look at it. Sure enough, blood was starting to stain the bandage.

"I told you not to break him, Duke," Vincent said, straining his voice. He huffed and a couple of seconds of silence passed. I thought of craning my neck in order to look at him, to see what he was doing, but then decided against it as the thought made me feel dizzy. "We need you again," he said at last and I realized he was talking on the phone when no one in the room answered.

He stood up and came to tower over me with a bored expression. Without saying a word, he grabbed my uninjured wrist and pulled me up until I was lying over his shoulder. I thrashed, unable to help myself as my ribs ended up pressing against his shoulder, and without it being my intention my elbow hit the side of his head hard. He stopped walking and let me fall to the ground. I ungracefully landed on my side, while screaming.

"Kind and caring, huh?" I managed to grit out. The tip of a shoe touched my chest and pushed me to my back.

Vincent looked down at me as if I was nothing more than a disregarded piece of paper that he was stepping on. He added some pressure on the foot that was against my chest and leaned down.

"I never claimed to be either of those things, treat," he spat out. He leaned down once again, but this time he didn't throw me up and over his shoulder. Instead, he slipped under my arm and lifted me to my feet.

With my arm hooked over his shoulder and an apathetic look in his eyes, he took me back upstairs and into the room I had woken up in. He set me on the bed and headed towards the door again. The blood loss had made me slightly lightheaded and lowered my already non-existent filter.

"You are going to fucking regret this."

Vincent paused by the door and when nothing followed my words he opened the door and stepped outside. I tipped forward and then decided falling back was smarter and pushed myself to lie down on my back. Whenever I made it out of there my parents would get the tongue-lashing of their lives. If I ever got out of here.