Fighting For My Undead Soul

Chapter 14

I groaned as I tried to open my eyes and felt a stabbing pain in my head. I managed to peel them open one by one and sit up slightly. Memories of the night before flooded my brain, and my surroundings slowly started to make sense. I looked around the room I was in. It was like the one from the night before, but much larger and there was a bay window to my left with a nook bed nestled into it. The room was dark and somber much like the other parts of the house I saw last night. I got up and walked over the window, throwing back the heavy curtains. I hissed at the bright light but was quickly overwhelmed by the beauty of the land. A luscious garden laid out below the window and trailed back to the edge of a lake. Everything beyond that was surrounded by trees, but everything was so green and vibrant, a stark contrast to the house itself.

I turned back to the room, blonde hair and blood flashing across my vision. I looked down at my clothes, realizing I was wearing clean pajamas, but I still felt gross. A grand bathroom sat opposite the bay window in my room. I spent a long time under the hot water, letting it numb my body similar to my mind. I left the bathroom without clothes, or a towel and an armoire caught my attention in the corner. I opened it up, finding a variety of women's clothing inside. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a faded, red sweater. A black pair of boots sat next to the bed, and I figured they would be better than walking around barefoot. I contemplated staying in the room until someone came to get me, but curiosity got the better of me and I peeked the door open, listening for sounds of life before fully stepping out into the hall. Although brighter with the natural light shining in through the windows, the halls were still black and dark. Plants, presumably from the garden, were cluttered everywhere, but they only added to the calm ambiance of the house.

I wondered around the upstairs, coming across more bedrooms and a library. Eventually, I found my way walking down the grand staircase and into the party area. Everything looked immaculately clean, like the night before hadn't happened. But as I walked across the black and white tiled floor, I remembered the blonde woman approaching me and my hunger for her blood increasing. I moved through that room and into the next. A marvelous stone fireplace sat against one wall framed by bright red wallpaper. Blood. I ran my hand along the wall, letting the rough texture scrape across my fingertips. Commotion coming from a few rooms away drew my forward. I walked into a room with a long, rectangle table. Each chair was occupied, and the table was full of plates of food and glasses of blood. I realized that the room was full of not only vampires, but also humans.

At the head of the table sat a handsome man with jet black hair and light brown eyes. I realized immediately that he must be Valerie's brother. Speaking of the devil, she sat opposite him at the other end of the table, her eyes already tracking my movements as I entered the room silently. There were two seats open at the table, one seemed to speak to me more than the other. I approached the chair quickly, grabbing a glass of blood from the table before sitting down. I leaned to my right, putting my arm over the back of the chair next to me. "Good morning," I said lowly to the blonde sitting next to me. Her heart beat quickened, and I could see sweat building on her forehead. She didn't turn to face me or return my greeting. Her hand, whether consciously or not, went up to her neck, covering the bandage. I cocked my head to the side and used my free hand to turn her chin in my direction. She flinched at my touch and in an instant, someone was holding my wrist and yanking my hand away from her face.

"What the fuck?!" I yelled out, jumping out of my chair and readying myself for a fight. Two vampires approached me from either side and grabbed my arms. I thrashed against them, but it was no use. Valerie glared at me as she turned from in front of me and left the room. I let the vampires drag me after her. We walked into a small study and the vampires threw me to the ground before shutting me inside the room with Valerie. I stood up, dusting off my clothes. Any anger I was feeling had already dissipated. I didn't have the energy to care about trivial things, especially when it came to humans I didn't know or care about. She sat on a dark, mahogany desk and faced me with her arms crossed.

I watched her, waiting patiently for her to threaten my life. "This is my home, Artemis. Everyone who is here is welcome to be here, vampires and humans. They are my friends and family. You will not be allowed to hurt or disrespect them." She paused, staring into my soul like she expected me to drop to my knees and apologize. "My bad," I shrugged my shoulders, ready to get back to breakfast. She stood quickly and approached me, stopping until we were practically nose to nose. "I don't want you here anymore than what you want to be here. But you can't leave right now, so you better just make yourself comfortable. When my family gets what they want, you'll be able to go back to your life. Until then, you'll follow my rules. You are not to leave the premises. If you want to go out in the woods or by the lake, you need an escort. You cannot contact anyone from your life until we send you back. You can drink blood from anything or anyone as long as they give you permission. When they take their permission away, you need to stop. As long as no one is physically hurt by you, then you shouldn't have any problems with me."

I laughed at the ridiculousness of the rules. As if I would want to leave a place that was supplying me with the one thing I needed most. Plus, even if I wanted to leave or contact my family, they wouldn't want me anymore. I was broken. Dangerous. Definitely not the person they used to know. This was my life now and I was planning on getting used to it. "Understood," I said through my laughter. She was acting like this place was a prison, but really it was an escape from my reality. She led me back out to the breakfast room and walked me to the other available seat in the room, which happened to be right next to hers. I took my spot and grabbed a glass of blood, sipping on it casually.

Everyone else carried on with breakfast as though nothing had happened. I tried to make eye contact with the blonde woman from across the table, but she wouldn't play along with me. I did, however, catch a pair of light brown eyes watching me with amusement. I raised my glass in his direction, and he returned the gesture from the head of the table. "So, is there another party tonight?" I asked Valerie who was sitting to my left. "There's a party every night. Though, I'm not sure it's a good idea for you to be there. Given your... state of being," she responded. "My state of being?" I asked with a chuckle. "You do realize I have no choice in being here. Or in any of the actions I take. I've been forced to drink blood against my will for weeks. Now that I'm ready to give in you're going to use it against me?"

"I'm not saying you can't come," Valerie said through clenched teeth, "just that it's not a good idea." I smiled smugly as I finished off my glass of blood and grabbed another. I would be at the party, fuck her suggestions. I watched the vampires and humans mingling around the table. So strange, to see them coexisting with each other. In my family, it's practically forbidden to tell humans about vampires unless you plan on turning them or killing them. It's just always been too risky to our livelihood. Yet, somehow, these humans embrace the vampires. They party with them. Laugh with them. Live with them. Naïve is what they all are. If they think this peaceful existence can last. Even if these relationships don't sour, the hunters are still a problem. They won't care who they take down, vampire or human, as long as they wipe us off the face of the earth. Not to mention my family, which I'm sure are tirelessly trying to get to me as we speak, not knowing I'm too far gone. But who am I to warn them? I just got here, and I don't know anyone except for the woman sitting next to me, who is occasionally glaring holes into the side of my head. I take another sip of my blood and relax into my chair., allowing ethereal bliss to overcome me. No more bothering to think about such matters, these people and their mess is not my concern. Besides, if this whole place gets wiped out, I'll hardly even notice. I'm just here for a good time, not a long time.