Human Sacrifice

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I smiled and sat in my seat by Janice and she looked uncomfortable in the grand dinner hall. The six of us girls sat on one side of the table whilst the royals sat on the other. We were all introduced and Scott’s brother, Patrique, had three girls as well. He had my friend Mae and two other girls called Gwen and Elwyn. Mae looked petrified and she sat on the other side of me, opposite her captor.

We all had to stand as the king sat to the side of his sons. He then allowed us all to sit down. My gaze met Patrique’s for a second and I quickly broke the eye contact and stared at the table. I was never very good with eye contact; it made me feel extremely uncomfortable. It always had. “You’re blushing” Mae whispered, nudging my arm with her elbow.

“I shouldn’t be” I replied confidently. Katya sat by a man who looked quite similar to her so I assumed they were siblings. They didn’t get on well; I could tell by the way they greeted each other: a simple nod and no words. It was like they were separated by a piece of glass and they were completely apart from each other despite being sat in each other’s personal space. Lyle had the same green-yellow eyes as his sister but had lighter hair and a more definite bone structure in his face. He appeared to be taller also; maybe that was just because Katya was very petite and not very tall.

The king smiled at us. “Welcome girls. You have all been brought here because my sons have picked you for specific reasons. The reasons aren’t particularly important right now but I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here. If you need anything feel free to ask. Lyle is in charge of you three’s needs” he smiled, gesturing to Patrique’s three girls. “And Katya is responsible for you three while this Prince is away” he smiled, looking at Janice, Monica and I.

“Eugh you told us this before” Scott replied unenthusiastic, twirling his fork as he rolled his eyes.

“I’ll make you go and stay with your grand-father again. You know how much he loves you” the king laughed and looked at the more outgoing son. “Seeing as he lives with no electricity in the middle of nowhere” he added. We girls watched the conversation quite confused but it all made sense to me at least.

Dinner was served. I looked down at what resembled tomato soup and moved it around with my spoon before trying it. Sometimes, I used to slip whilst chopping the tomato and I would cut my finger. Blood tasted horrible. In a large household full of vampires god knows what they put into the food. After knowing that it was fully blood-free, I ate it and stole a roll of bread from Janice.

The starter was cleared away and I looked at the table as a large roast dinner was placed in front of me. It reminded me of my mum’s cooking but a million times better. I skipped the sauce that sat in a tiny gravy boat in the middle of the table. It didn’t resemble gravy but was a crimson red so we all gulped and decided to just go without. I watched as Patrique covered his food in it.

It didn’t have the same consistency as gravy either, and kind of glugged onto the plate like a paste.

I shook myself from thoughts that were making me feel sick. I managed to clean my plate after mouthfuls after mouthfuls of the huge potion. I only used to eat a little but this meal looked like it was going to make me explode. I felt the food swell in my stomach as well, and I had a feeling, a tiny inkling that this would be the only meal we would receive for a few days.

“Your mother would be proud of you both” the king smiled at his sons.

“Ha, sure. Mom always preferred Scott over me, she would still hate me like she did in the will where all I got left was a goldfish” Patrique smiled; I could tell the smile was faked because the way he spoke made him seem hurt. After saying that to his father he looked at all six of us and stopped on me. He seemed to think for a few seconds which made me uncomfortable again.

“Shut up Patrique, you’re just sad over the fact I’m better than you” Scott laughed. The King nudged him and growled; he hinted that such behaviour was not right and I assumed Scott had always been mean to his brother. Patrique sighed and excused himself from the table, glancing at his brother before he left the room. I swallowed and watched.

After dinner we all made our ways to our allocated rooms. Mine was just past the dining hall and was next door to Mae. There happened to be my name and Scott’s name on the door. I guessed I was like his property now. I sat on the edge of my bed and changed into the pyjamas they had given us. They weren’t warm but at least we were covered up. I looked down at the rainbow top and shorts and untied my hair. I also sat at the dressing table and wiped all of the make up from my face. It was a breath of fresh air to be free of the mask I had to put on. I had many scars from spots and blemishes (and very freckly too), and nobody liked me with no makeup on.

I wasn’t prepared for the knock that rang through the room. I swallowed and placing the makeup wipes in the bin I stalked towards the door. I made my actions quiet. Silently, my movements became slower as I approached the door and I opened it slowly, my hand lingering on the handle for longer than normal. Don’t kill me I thought over and over.

Patrique looked up at me with a bottle in his hand. I shook. “You know we both want the same thing, Brix. You want to go home; I want to get back at Scott” he smirked up at me. I had no idea where this conversation was going but I found myself being impolite so I invited him inside. I must admit, he was more attractive than the guys I knew. Not amazing and perfect but still an improvement. His eyes were a deep brown with red behind them and I found myself blushing again.

“I’ll do anything to help” I said without thinking. He placed the now empty bottle on the side and looked up at me again.

“First thing first. You’re the one to be sacrificed Brix. Second, you have no way of getting out of it. And third, I suggest you make an impression that they’ll never forget you by before you leave. That way you’ll always be remembered”