Dangerous Lives

Chapter one

Where was I? There had been an attack at the academy. We'd been in the caves fighting when Dimitri had been grabbed. I remembered running after him and shoving him out of the way. I'd told him to take me instead. To leave Dimitri alone. He'd laughed. And That Strigoi... He'd bitten me...

My vision, once blurry, came into focus and I took in my surroundings. The room was somewhat small and built with metal. I was chained to a metal chair that seemed to be bolted to the floor. It kind of reminded me of a prison.

It wasn't until I got hit in the head that I realized I wasn't alone. The blonde Strigoi walked eerily into my view. He was in stalker mode. His red eyes were narrowed.

"Hello Rose," He said, he voice low. How did he know my name? I could see lust in his eyes. I spat at him. Calmly he slapped me across the face. "That wasn't very nice Rosie." I could feel a bruise forming on my cheek. "My name's Nathan." I didn't speak. He slapped me again. Hard. I spit a small amount of blood to my right. He laughed at me. He actually laughed at me.

"What do you want?" I growled at him.

All I want dear Rosie, is you." He sighed. "Now, Galina wants the dragmoir princess and unfortunately, her wants go before mine." Lisa. Why did they always want Lisa! I waited rather impatiently as Nathan walked behind me. He was moving something around.

"Good luck." I snapped. "I'm not telling you anything." He laughed again. I swore to god I was going to wipe that grin off of his face. Well the grin I suspected he had as I couldn't actually see him.

"I kind of expected that Rosie." He said. I really really hated that nickname. It made me sound like a pansy. I suddenly wasn't too hot. There was a slight buzzing and then electric currents shot through every part of my body. I bit my lip until I drew blood. I didn't want to scream. I wasn't going to scream. I moaned in pain. It stopped and I sighed in relief.

"I will ask you again." He growled. "Where is the Dragmoir Princess." Wasn't she at the academy? At let myself open up to her. She was at the capital.

"Fuck off." I snapped. He tsked. The machine powered up again, this time worse. That's when the screaming started. I couldn't hold it back anymore and I easily felt whatever food was in my stomach coming back up. I was left panting and nauseous. "I will ask you again. Where is the Dragmoir Princess?" My lower lip quivered. What if I lied? What if I told him something believable? I couldn't go through that again.

"W-we st-stopped talking months ago." I lied my voice raspy. "I-I thought she was at the academy." Nathan stared at me for a good five minutes. Finally though, he sighed and grabbed a long rope off of the wall. He tied it tight around my neck. He kept a good grip on one of my arms as he unstrapped me from the horror contraption. He then slid a blindfold over my eyes. I struggled.

"Shhh," He whispered. "It's okay Rosie." The way he said that made my blood run cold. He opened a door that creaked. He shoved me down many different hallways, stopping periodically to what I guessed was plugging in a code. We were in an elevator. I counted ten beeps. A new door opened and he shoved me inside. This was a separate room. It was warmer. Nathan removed the blindfold. I was in what looked like an apartment. On the right was a kitchen. On the left was a living room with a glass coffee table and a flatscreen. Other than the glass coffee table there was nothing that could really be used as a makeshift weapon. In the back was a separate room with a bed. I struggled to get out of his grip but he pulled me along. He tied the other end of the rope to the head of the bed. He pulled me down on the bed. I cried out.

"You smell delicious." He growled in my ear. I struggled to get away from him. He was restraining my hands and no matter how hard I tried to break free his hands were steel. He threw his legs over my waist so he was stradeling me. I was going to die. I just knew I was going to die. He brushed his fangs over my skin. I could've sworn he hissed. "I'm giving you a choice Rosie. Most wouldn't get a choice." He kissed my neck. This was repulsive. I bucked. He put his nose to mine and stared at me sideways. "Fiesty." He laughed. "I like feisty."

"Get off-" He grabbed my throat.

"You don't get to tell me what to do." He snapped. His face became calm again. "Galina needs more soldiers." He said. "We've all heard of the infamous Rose Hathaway." I narrowed my eyes. "Your just like your mother-"

"Shut up." He slapped me, whipping my head to the side.

"Maybe I'll just change you." He sneered. "You won't even let me finish." I peeled open my eyes. "You'd be even stronger."

"No." I snapped. "I will never become one of you." He smiled. I never thought I'd see a Strigoi smile like that in my life. He seemed delighted.

"Good." He sighed. "Because you do smell delicious." Involuntarily my body started shaking. He caressed my cheek where the purple bruise was now forming. "Blood Whore it is then." He said, smiling. My blood went cold. No. "You'll come to love it eventually." He stood up and went to the tinted window on my side of the bed. "Everyone does." My arms were free but I didn't dare move. I wanted to. I really really wanted to. But I could see him watching me out of the corner of his eye. "You know, Strigoi don't have to kill to be full." He said absentmindedly. "We kill because its fun. We have armies. We have citizens. We have a leader. We have rebels." He cracked his neck. He was on top of me in a second.

"I-if I do this," I whispered closing my eyes. "Will you leave my Dimitri alone?" Nathan smiled.

"The guy you protected? Dimitri Belikov?" He wasn't smiling. He scoffed.

"Yeah." He said. "I won't touch him." He kissed my cheek. "We have big plans for you Rose Hathaway." He yanked my head to the side, pulling my hair with it and bit down hard on my neck. I cried out if only for a moment. The endorphins set in and I was out.