MAEVE

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

I could feel the ice emitting from his obsidian gaze burrowing into me, it felt like shards of glass and I knew it would only worsen if I refuse to do what he silently demanded of me.

I looked up and gazed into his eyes for the first time. Hidden silver peered into emotionless black, I stared into the abyss and it stared back into me.

My heart thumped, then thumped again, falling into a consistent staccato. His eyes dropped to my chest, almost like he could hear my heart beat, Perhaps he could. For the first time something shifted in his eyes, something feral.

The air around me changed, almost as if charged with a different kind of energy, and it was not the good kind. Everyone shifted again uneasily. Almost as if they were responding to whatever was going on right now. The golden boy cleared his throat.

"My name is Noah, of the house of Farrow,"  He told me, his voice slightly strained. I quickly turned to him in surprise.

"Err okay, that was super weird," I told him, smiling with amusement. He smiled back, all rays of precious sunshine.

"Weird? Did I do something strange?" He asked me, blinking large golden eyes.

"Yea, umm the way you introduced yourself, no one really does that anymore," I told him, watching for signs of anger or embarrassment. He simply smiled.

"Sorry, but that is the way we have always introduced ourselves here," He told me simply, no snark present in his tone. I thought about it, and my answer was "yep definitely not normal." Well if you are in Rome, then behave as the Romans do, correct? I cleared my throat.

"Ok, my name is Paris, of the house of Bakari," I told him. He stared at me in surprise for a moment and I stared right back, before we simultaneously burst out together in laughter. We came to a breathless stop, before he smiled and drew closer, putting his surprisingly cold hands on my head and ruffled the wig.

Ashton cleared his throat before drawing himself to his full height.

"And my name is Ashton of the house of Villan." He told me with a smirk, leaning lazily against our table, smelling of confidence, spontaneous decisions, and leather jacket. I smiled and nodded back.

"Nice to meet you Ashton." He stared at me, his gaze piercing, as if searching for something inside my clothes and behind my smile. I shuddered looking away.

My eyes turned to the one whose name I itched to know, I do not even know what was going on with me at this point. All my life, my first instinct had always been to flee from danger, but right now I found myself leaning towards it, waiting breathlessly for its icy claws to wrap around me and sink deep.

"The name is Elijah of the house of Danksworth." He told me, eyes lazy as they gazed into mine. Turning, he inadvertently dismissed me, or perhaps he just did not care enough to consider that oversight.

"See you later Paris," Noah smiled with a cute little wave before jogging slightly to catch up with Ashton, who like Elijah had left without another word.

I turned to face the rest of the table, and met them all spotting different expressions. Bob was repeatedly clenching and unclenching his jaw, Dre was looking at me, one eyebrow lifted in surprise. Min had the strangest expression as she gazed forward with longing. Luca was half asleep at this point, and leaning all his weight on kyle who was trying and failing to conceal a grin as he would a secret.

I also turned back for one last glimpse of a certain person, but to my utmost annoyance, three girls with waist length black hair, all empty brains and short skirts stood up, draping themselves all over the three as they sauntered out, leaving a trail of broken hearts in their wake.

"Okay, who were those girls?" I asked my new friends. They all grimaced, I shook my head in disappointment.

"That bad huh? So are they the girlfriends or?" I let my voice trail suggestively. To my surprise Min was the most livid.

"Girlfriends my ass, they are more like glorified blood banks," She snapped furiously. Slowly my eyes widened.

Blood_bank is something I was very familiar with. As a movie freak I watched it all the time. That feeling of danger started creeping back in. Everyone at the table was staring at Min with wide eyes, till hers started to grow as she realized her mistake.

"Blood bank? Did I say blood bank? I meant ummm," She trailed, her eyes darting to her friends for help. Her twin came to the rescue.

"She meant sex bank?" He blurted out. And I frowned, like "what?" Luca sighed deeply in his state of half consciousness. Bob face palmed.

I smiled hastily, I had to maintain my ignorant mien. "It's alright, everyone slips sometimes, it's normal,"  I told them with a smile. They all nodded feeling reassured. They all turned to each other, talking in animated whispers. With the attention off me, I turned to observe the room.

Some were eating, just like my table was, but more importantly, majority of them were sipping something from a flask. A kind of red liquid that stained their lips and colored their tongues. And they were all sipping the same thing?

What it was exactly I was not quite sure. Blended strawberries? I was not quite certain. A movement to my right caught my attention. I watched as a girl playfully dipped a finger in the flask of the boy beside her, and proceeded to lick said finger in a sensuous manner.

For that brief moment I could see the finger clearly. It was red like the fear that was weaving itself in and out of me like determined vines. Red like what flowed as my heart pounded in realization. Red like blood. My mind went "Hell no!"