Daniel held me in an iron grip; he grabbed my hair, pulling it so my throat was exposed. I mean what is he thinking? Nice pick-up line there – Hey, I killed your parents, now let me taste you. Who says that? In a strange way I wasn’t scared, I realized Daniel wasn’t terrifying at all. He was just an arrogant jerk – who had too much power – since he was of noble blood. He had probably too much influence in the vampire world for his own good – making his personality pretty horrible. He was almost as bad as a spoiled brat. I wonder if there is any kindness in him, he’s rude and takes what he wants, even if he ends up hurting people.
“What are you thinking about?”
Startled, I came back to reality, blushing slightly, I met Daniels eyes.
“Um…nothing much,” I murmured.
Daniel narrowed his eyes, watching me cautiously. Then he softened his grip on me, releasing me. I gazed at him, dumbfounded.
“Come to my dorm after school we’ll settle this matter there. It’s almost time for school to start, I suppose you need to shower – you’re quite dirty,” Daniel chuckled.
I gaped at him stunned. His pitch-black eyes watched my reaction in amusement.
“You better hurry, you kind of stink…I don’t want to sit in a stinking classroom,” he said and walked away.
That idiot! What a jerk!
I watched him walk away, taking a deep breath, collecting my thoughts, I headed to my dorm. I walked briskly – it felt like someone was watching me. When I reached the dorm I opened the door quickly – luckily you didn’t have to have a key, you only needed a password. I sneaked into our room, as quietly as I could, hoping that Erik was still asleep – I didn’t feel like explaining what’d happen. Heck, I didn’t even know what’d happen.
I held my breath and opened the door to our room. It was dark – maybe I’m lucky. I stepped inside and was just about to close the door when the door closed itself – crap.
“Erika, where have you been?”
His voice was as cold as a winter day. He’s angry – or rather furious.
“Um…I sort of…kind of…went sleepwalking,” I mumbled. “I need to shower so…”
I heard a low thud, like something was dropped. Suddenly a pair of arms was around me, cuddling me like a fragile child. Erik was standing behind me, holding me tightly but gently. He let out a heavy sigh and put his head on one of my shoulders, his breath reeked of booze – had he been drinking?
“Erika…I was so scared. I got a call from Alistar an hour ago, saying that he had agreed to let you be Daniels consort. And when I saw that you wasn’t in your bed…” Erik said grimly.
“What? You got a call from Alistar?! Why is it always like this? Why don’t I get to know anything, even when it involves me?” I yelled. I felt my blood boiling; I tried to shrug him of – but in vain. What was it with these two boys – all clingy and annoying as hell. Feeling the lack of sleep and the soreness claiming my body I started to get irritated, I just need to be alone and sort my feelings out.
“Erika, please, just calm down. I…” Erik started to say.
“Calm down?!” I shouted – that’s it, I’m sick and tired of people telling me what to do and not to do.
In one swift move I punched Erik hard in the stomach with my elbow. He let out a loud groan and let go of me for a split-second. I took the chance and ran to the bathroom – locking the door behind me. And I started crying. Overwhelmed by all emotions, lack of sleep and the fear that always was there, I sank to the floor. Leaning against the door, I heard a soft knock.
“Erika…look, come out and we’ll talk about this,” Erik murmured softly, his voice full of pain. I could almost picture his pained face.
“Erik…no, I…” I murmured back, not finding the words.
“What happened to you?” he whispered.
“I woke up outside, by the east hill, at the top of it. I don’t know how I got there,” I said.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
How did he know?
“Yes,” I mumbled.
“Alistar said that…if a vampire gets into your mind, controlling it, making you dream nightmares. In some cases the vampire could even control the body, making it move without your knowledge. Also known as sleepwalking,” Erik murmured.
Then something came to my mind. When Daniel and I were talking, he mentioned that he knew what type my blood was and that I reeked of dirt. I gasped and sprinted to the mirror – there underneath the dirt there was blood. There on the nape of my neck were two small cuts, they were deep but it didn’t bleed from them now.
I couldn’t believe it – that son-of-a-bitch bit me!
