𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐃𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍

八 | 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐄

adulation (n.)
adoration. worship.
admiration. devotion.
reverence. favor.

「 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑬𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 」
𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐙𝐄

꧁꧂

    "I finally found you," Ferid's cold voice whispered into (Y/N)'s ear, making her jump as his hand wrapped around her throat, his sharp nails scratching against her skin. "You were quite the hard target to catch... not that I mind."

"Let go of me!" She hissed, trying to escape his steel-like grip. "Where are we!?"

"In an underground maze that I had built in secret for amusement just like this," he answered casually, his face looming closer to her neck to the point his lips brushed against her skin, the warmth of the blood pulsing beneath her flesh an intoxicating temptation despite its horrid nature—it was a strange craving he wanted to understand. "I have to say that I enjoyed this little game of ours very much, even with the challenge of not being able to sense you."

Trying to squirm away from him, (Y/N) didn't have much success, only able to back herself into a wall. She was trapped. Blinking her eyes fervently in hopes of being able to see, however slightly, through the dark, she froze when the feeling of something sharp came in contact with her neck.

"Hold still," Ferid whispered lowly, his gloved hand pushing her head away. "I want to see exactly how rotten you taste... for my prize."

In a flash, he bit down, that same excruciating pain when Krul had also drunk her blood coursing to every limb as she stood, paralyzed. Wishing to scream in agony, she couldn't, nothing escaping but pain-filled whimpers. Using every bit of strength that she had, she pushed Ferid away with surprising force, his fangs pulling from her neck with a sharp sting to her flesh as she then gripped the bleeding wound. He raised his brows in surprise, running his fingers over his mouth that had been tainted red with her blood. Never having expected such strength from a human, one that was being drunken from no less, he also didn't expect that while her blood truly was terrible, he found himself unable to pull away.

Her blood was bad.

Therefore, this was confounding in itself.

    This is certainly a strange new development, but I have to say... I am no longer disappointed.

His eyes flashed in intrigue when a hypothesis sifted through his mind: (Y/N)'s blood only tasted good in that moment because of the trials he put her through, accelerating her heart rate and therefore making her think she was near death. Licking his lips at the thought, Ferid then grabbed (Y/N)'s arm before dragging her out of the maze, opening a door that immediately made her have to squeeze her eyes shut from the stinging light.

"I have to thank you for making this evening quite a fun one," Ferid chuckled humorously as he led her back down into the dungeon before practically shoving her into her cell. "And... for my prize of winning the game earlier... I just might have to have more of it."

(Y/N) cowered backwards in fear.

"As much as I relish those expressions of yours, it is unneeded," he chuckled as he leaned against the bars, obviously entertained, fiddling with a strand of his long silver hair in thought. "I will be away for a few days, so behave yourself, human. I've even instructed Ayal to take care of you while I'm gone. Aren't I such a benevolent and gracious master? Most would have left you to rot."

(Y/N)'s glare only sharpened.

Ferid merely gave one last laugh before he was gone. He didn't particularly wanted to leave his little experiment so soon, but he had to. As commanded by Krul, he and the other vampire nobility often had to aid in the fights against the ungrateful humans who thought of them as evil beings. Yet, just like those humans, vampires were merely trying to survive. To the vampires, humans were hypocrites. Humans didn't say anything when they ate animals, yet revolt when they become the food and no longer have any say, just like the animals they thought they protected but still ate.

Humans didn't fear animals.

Animals were food.

So why should vampires fear humans who were nothing but food to them?

This, at least to Ferid Bathory and most of his fellow vampires, was true and agreed upon. Currently, Ferid now stood at one of the highway intersections which scouts had deemed where they and the humans who were wandering too far from their base were most likely to meet, his smile widened when spotting a familiar face.

"Crowley Eusford," he drawled, making the Thirteenth Progenitor look away from speaking with his two aides. "So nice to see you again."

The male vampire now known as Crowley stepped towards Basile with a friendly smile, though said smile held no trust nor warmth. He was a tall and muscular vampire with broad shoulders, his red and black hair framing his face in messy strands while a single braid rested on his shoulder. As like all vampires, he possessed piercing red eyes and fangs which could be seen as he smirked. What was more, he was dressed in a nonstandard, unbuttoned white uniform to display his chest. A black band strapped across his chest assisted in keeping a short white cape in place while belt secured a lower, split cape around his legs.

    Rather than for armor, Crowley's overall attire visually represented that of what a crusader in the 13th century would wear.

    "Ferid Bathory... it's a pleasure," he hummed. "What are you doing here so far from your post?"

    "Krul wanted me here."

    "I'm surprised," Crowley commented, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Though, not too surprised since I assume she wants you as far away from her as she can possibly get you."

    "Such words hurt me, dear comrade," Ferid crooned whilst placing a hand to his chest, watching as Crowley merely ignored him and turned back to Chess and Horn to give them a whispered a command, both nodding before leaping away to scale separate buildings, he watching them go whilst shading his eyes. "Where are they going?"

    "I merely want a better vantage point," Crowley explained as he placed his hands on his hips, the movement making his sword glimmer in the light. "I also think they deserve the treat of playing with some of those humans if they choose to do so." His eyes then lit up as he proclaimed, "Ah, that reminds me, didn't you also take in a human as a pet recently? Whatever made you do that?"

    "Has the news already reached even your ears?" Ferid smirked, his hand flourishing in a lack of care gesture. "Yes, and I must say, it is quite an interesting creature."

    "A human?" Crowley laughed, clearly amused by Ferid's words. "Interesting?"

    "If you were to come into contact with it, you'd also be intrigued as well, I'm sure," Ferid uttered, that smile of his seeming to grow even wider than usual. "Not only is its blood so filthy and impure, there is no way to sense it. I'm hoping that by driving to the brink of death or madness, its blood will taste hopefully sweeter. I've even given my aid special... instructions on what to do with it while I'm here.

    "Is that so?" Crowley mused, clicking his tongue when his curiosity was indeed piqued.

    "However, you'll probably never meet it," Ferid then shrugged. "After all, I'm sure that sooner or later, and I'm betting sooner, that it will die."

━━━━━━━━ ꧁ ♥ ꧂ ━━━━━━━━

「 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬 𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑵𝑼𝑬𝑫 」