The Vampire's Bride

Chapter Eight

A couple of days had gone by since Everea escaped Cross Academy. She was constantly afraid of being found, having moved around for the first couple of days consistently, barely sleeping. But by the end of the second day, she relented and returned home to Albert's cottage. It was where she belonged. It didn't take long for her to fall back into a routine. Chop wood for the wood stove, make dinner, train. Everything was the same as it had been when she left... right down to being alone again.

She wondered how Zero took her letter. If he was pissed off with her for leaving him after having found each other after so long. Maybe he'd understood... Wishful thinking, E... Despite her negative thoughts, she tried to focus on the stew she was making for dinner. It wasn't fancy, just some beef, potatoes, carrots, and broth, but it would fill her up and leave her ready for bed.

As the pot began to bubble, Everea felt a cold wind rush through the house. She hadn't left any windows open... had she? Sighing, she set the pot of stew on a holder, leaving it on the counter to cool off as she went to shut whatever window she had left open. It wasn't normal for her to be so absentminded, but with everything that's happened, she couldn't be too hard on herself.

Finally finding the window she'd opened and forgotten to shut, she pulled down on the sill, struggling to close the heavy thing before it finally clunked shut and she pulled the lock into place. It had been nice outside earlier, but now it was getting cold and windy. Before she could turn around and get back to her dinner, the reflection of someone in her window froze her in place. It could be another hallucination, like the blood... but no. It was real. 

Shuddering, she stared at the eyes she knew too well through the glass, terrified and wondering how he had managed to find her so quickly. She had covered her tracks... moved from place to place. Nobody even knew this cottage existed besides her and Albert... it was off the grid. Reaching for her bloody rose, she cursed, feeling the empty space at her thigh where it usually was. Remembering she had left it on the counter, she started to shake, too afraid to turn around and face this man.

Before she could think of another reaction, he was already upon her, one hand holding her weapon hands wrist, the other under her chin, forcing her head back to look up at him. Feeling unshed tears burn her eyes, she didn't move an inch, staring into his brown eyes. This was surreal. She'd been gone for just over forty-eight hours and he already had her back in his hands...

"I told you... there's nowhere you can hide as long as you're a pureblood." His voice sounded sinister, her ear tickling as he whispered in it. There's no way he came here alone... is there? The fact that he was still going on about this pureblood business made her head swim, her fingers feeling so cold it hurt as he held her in place.

Hearing the clatter of her door opening, she sighed, looking away from Kuran as she watched Hanabusa and Aido enter through her front door. Of course, they came. Even though Kuran was convinced she was a pureblood, he hadn't told anybody else why he was obsessed with her, and it showed how the two were confused about their predicament. 

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Everea was exhausted from running, wanting nothing more than to just shoot this bastard in the head and end it. But if she did that, she'd end up dead too. As he loosened his grip on her, she took the chance to shove him off of her and go for her weapon. A hair away from getting to it, she was grabbed from behind, her arms pinned behind her back as she screamed in frustration, kicking her legs from being held up. Why were they so tall?!

Even though they held her back, she seethed, her face nearly as red as her hair, as she tried to get them off of her. It wasn't much use though, their grips were firm, and with her height being a disadvantage, she couldn't even reach the ground. After nearly ten minutes of struggling, she had tired herself out, her arms aching from being held behind her, and out of breath. Suddenly being dropped, she collapsed to the floor beneath her, hissing from the pain of being dropped on her ass. Even though she was stronger than this, she was no match against two aristocrats and a pureblood, all there specifically to take her back with them.