Persephone

14. Blood

~~~~

Alistair ran his fingers loosely through Persephone's hair, untangling knots as he went.

"I am sure you could tell, from my actions of last night, I am not exactly human. I am part of an advanced species known to many cultures as the ultimate predators. We are called the Nosferatu," Alistair looked down, gaging Persephone's face for her next reaction, allowing the compulsive power he held to slowly slide off, "We are known to you as Vampires."

Persephone merely blinked up at him, her eyes showing her disbelief, but not a word was said.

Alistair sighed, but continued, "As you know, the definition of a vampire is someone who drinks blood to survive.  That is true, as seen from last night," he bit his lip, staring down at her, "I truly am sorry about that, that is not how  I wanted our first night together to be like."

She pulled back, struggling to get out of his strong hold, only now realizing his mental hold on her was gone.

"No, no. That was not what I was thinking," although his grip was strong and unrelenting as he brought her back to his chest, hiding her face in his shoulder, "Please stop struggling, let me talk. Please, I do not want to have to use compulsion on you."

At last, Persephone stopped moving, allowing herself to willingly relax in his arms, his hold in turn becoming slack around her.

"As I was saying, I am part of an advanced species surviving off blood, usually human. We are faster, stronger, smarter, better in every way compared to any other predator," he paused, staring at the wall opposite, her warm body pressed against his own allowing him a gentler side without extreme thirst for her blood, "And I am their king."

~~~~

Alistair watched Persephone intently from across the bed as she slowly picked at her plate.

He had called in a maid to bring her breakfast after her stomach had growled profusely. A slight guilt twinged in him. Rebuilding the red blood cells in her system had taken a lot from her, and he knew she had not been able to eat dinner the night before. Both of these things were his fault.

Yet, she barely ate the food placed before her.

"What's wrong? Is it made incorrectly? Do you not like it? I can have something else brought out in an instant, just say the word," worry creased his brow as Persephone chanced a glance at him.

"It's very good, thank you for your concern, but I'm fine."

Her voice quivered as she spoke, fear was evident in her eyes, but she seemed to know enough to not to try and run. She feared what would happen if she disobeyed his wishes again.

Quickly he stood, though his steps towards her were guarded, as if approaching a frightened dog. He knelt in front  of her, gently running his fingers down her bare arms, reveling in the softness of her skin as Persephone willed herself not to flinch away, terrified of what should happen if she were to anger him once again, "You need to eat, my darling," he ignored the slight twitch of Persephone's face at the use of the word 'darling,' "You are eating to feed both me and you, I cannot have a weak food source, now can I?"

For a moment there Persephone had thought he was actually concerned about her, a spark of anger flared within her, "And what if I don't keep myself strong? What if your food source is weak?" She spit venom into the words 'food source,' how dare he treat her like a piece of meat, she was a human being for Pete's sake!

But she regretted her words as soon as they were out because at the sound of her defiance, his dark eyes turned black, his grip on her arms tightening, "Then I would have to make sure you are strong." His tone was threatening, as if he dared her to wonder at what measures he would take.

Yet, she couldn't help it, "H-how?" slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it, finding that she, in fact, did not want to know.

An evil grin graced his lips, as he sat back on his heels, studying her,  "Persephone, tell me, do you know anything about.. vampire blood?"

Nervously, she shook her head, she barely knew much about vampires.

A dark chuckle was released,  as he now passed in front of her, "Well there are plenty of stories about it. It's healing properties, the ability it would give one to live forever, or even how the slightest drop would kill a human like yourself. Now, little Persephone, do you know what the truth about it is?"

Again, she shook her head, quivering in the plush chair, fear nearly paralyzing her. The man before her was more than just evil, he was the devil himself.

"There ate truth to some of the stories, it does have healing properties, and enough of it could make one live forever. they would be forever bound to the one whose blood they have tasted. Their need for this person so insatiable they could never leave their side. Their touch, their taste, their warmth..their sex. This taste would set off a need for all of this and more in the person who drinks it, even a few drops, all towards that one vampire. Now, my beautiful, little Persephone, what do you think I would do if I found out you not keeping yourself as well nourished as possible?"

The fight or flight urge was too much for Persephone, she needed to leave, it was her instinct. She jumped from the chair and rushed for the door, even though she knew she had no chance, she knew she had to try.

Strong hands grabbed her waist, tight enough to leave bruises, and she was lifted from the ground and thrown to the bed across the room. If it had been anything but the soft feather mattress, Persephone was sure she would have broken bones. A painful grip held down her wrists as the frightening monster towered over her, where mere milliseconds before he had been standing across the room.

His voice was low and dark as the blackness of this iris' spread to cover his entire eyes.

"You really should not have done that."

A/n: I'm so sorry for my unannounced hiatus, school had started up and a bunch of hectic things happened. I will try to make updates sooner but I cannot promise anything considering I am a high school student and have academic activities after school as well as a job and homework.

I am increasingly thankful for how this story has stayed popular over the past five months while I was gone, still ranking in the top 1000 in Vampire. Thank you so much for that and please please please keep reading.