Xeranthemum (Discontinued)

Chapter 6

Orchid- authority

~Luna~

I woke up in a new room this time. The walls were a sky blue with draping, midnight coloured curtains. The bed I was lying on was huge and soft. I turned my head and saw Adrian asleep. He was sitting on a chair, but it had appeared he had fallen forwards so his head was resting near mine on the bed.

I reached out a hand and ran my fingers through his hair. For a monster, it was pretty soft. He opened his eyes and I saw confusion run through them. A confusion I must have reciprocated because a gaurded look masked his face.

"Why is it everything you do, makes me forget you're a monster?" I asked softly before struggling into a sitting position. I felt dizzy from the lack blood and the room started to spin. I sat still for a moment to allow the head rush to dissipate.

I ignored Adrian as I struggled to my feet. I seemed to be getting used to the feeling of pins and needles that came with trying to stand after a feeding. That's when I noticed Kira's katana strapped to Adrian's side.

"What is it, Luna?" He asked when he noticed how all the blood had drained from my face.

"Where's Kira?" I asked, nauseauosness returning to me.

"Kira?" His voice was confused.

"Did you kill her?" I screamed at him. "I asked you not to kill her!" My voice was hysterical, my eyes wild. Suddenly, he seemed to realise who I was talking about. The tension seeped out of him and he had the nerve to laugh at me.

"What?" I demanded.

"She's still alive, I didn't kill her." He answered.

"Where is she?" I hissed at him.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to her."

That was how I ended up standing in the dungeon. I stood there, unsure of how to react. On one hand, Kira was still alive and kicking; on the other hand she was chained and gagged in a dungeon.

I turned to Adrian slowly. "You. Chained. Her. Up. In. A. DUNGEON!"

He looked at me blankly. "Yeah..." He replied slowly. I stalked up to him. His eyes widened at each step I took. I was absolutely livid. He didn't move as I stormed up to him; didn't look away from my undiluted rage. He was so shocked by my rage that he didn't notice my knee until it embedded itself in his stomach.

I was prepared for the pain, so I barely flinched. Adrian on the other hand fell forward and hissed in pain. "What was that for?" He asked, rave creeping into his voice.

"That was for chaining my best friend up in a dungeon. Let her down. Right now!" I commanded.

"Can't do that Princess." He informs, resorting to his old nickname for me.

"And why not!" I shoated.

"Because the second I take those chains off, she'll try and kill me again." He stated simply. "And we all know that me dying is not in your best interest at the moment."

I turned on my heal and walked towards her.
"Kira?" I waited until she raised her eyes to mine. "If he lets you down, you got to promise you won't try anything."

Uncertainly, she nodded. With that I turned and looked at Adrian expectantly. He sighed before walking over and undoing the shackles. Kira fell to the floor and ripped the gag out of her mouth. She shot Adrian a devastating glare before turning her attention to me.

"Luna... Why did you give the monster your blood? Why does the monster listen to you? Why did you go missing for nearly a month without telling anyone where you were? They told me you went AWOL." I saw questions and betrayel spread out across her face. Obviously it looked as though I had taken Adrian's, the monster's, side in the battle.

I sighed. "I take it you weren't sent by the Institute then." I felt a sharp stab of betrayel at that. I had given my entire life to the Institute. I had killed for them, lied for them and bled for them. But they had abandoned me for missing after a suicide mission. Adrian put a hand on my shoulder in an attempt to comfort me and I relaxed slightly. When had I started trusting this vampire. Kira noticed the action and her eyes narrowed.

"Well its a really long story..." I started.

"I don't have any where better to be." Kira said bitterly, shooting a look at Adrian.

"It started about a month before I came here..." Adrian glanced at me in suprise. "The Institute ordered me to clean out a vampire den. I went to the location they gave me, but they knew I was coming." Kira gasped, her eyes widening at my implication.

"Of course I'm a level seven, so I managed to fight my way out of the ambush, but I grew suspicious of the Institute. Obviously I stuck my nose some where they didn't want it because they started filling up my list with tasks. The tasks grew more dangerous with each one. Cleaning out a werewolf pack, exorcising ghasts, and ridding towns of curses. Of course those were just child's play to me. I'm one of the strongest fighters in the Institute.

"But then they decided to send me here. I thought it would be just another cleanup job. I didn't realise they'd set me up with a royal. I could've beaten him- sorry Adrian, but its true- if I'd been properly informed. I wasn't expecting a vampire of Adrian's strength and so we fought and he managed to bite me. At the same time, I managed to embed my knife in his face and our blood mixed."

I paused to see Kira's reaction. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open. It looked like she was taking a while to process my words. To fully understand how I had ended up with a vampire companion. I then glanced at Adrian. His eyes were clouded with thought and his mouth was tugged down in a frown.

"Well our blood mixed and that means Adrian and I managed to Bond." I went on to explain what Bonding actually meant. I left out the part where Adrian could kill me whenever he wanted and I left out the events that had happened to me since entering the mansion.

"So what now?" Kira asked.

I honsetly had no idea as to what would happen. I gave Kira a sad smile.

"Well I can't leave. I have no where to return to and I'm kind of married to a vampire." I said softly.

Adrian chose that moment to speak. "She can't leave either."