Hunting Love

Chapter 6

Pic of Karla to the side

Chapter 6

The king claps his hands and right on cue about ten servants pour out of what looks like the kitchen and start placing several dishes on the table. Only ever having deer blood and some leftover bread as my only meal for the past nineteen years, I have no clue what any of the foot on the table is.

The servants cut the foot and place it on the plates of the king and queen, making sure to give them small portions of each dish before returning back to the kitchen. Everyone else, since we were in the middle of the table, have to get our own food.

I watch as everyone take turns in grabbing their own share of the food until it's only me that still doesn't have anything on their plate. I fidget a little in my seat when I notice that everyone is staring at me expectantly.

"Are you vegetarian or something?" Braydon asks, grabbing more of the white mushy stuff on the table and placing it on his plate.

"Sabrina, what's wrong?" Maybelle asks, with a worried tone.

"Is she too stupid to get her own food?" Karla asks with a sneer. I resist the urge to roll my eyes at her and instead focus on the food on the table. Am I even allowed to get any? All of them? How much of them?

"I um...I just haven't had any of this kind of food before," I say, looking down sheepishly.

"So you live on a diet of street trash? Can't say I'm surprised, what with your breath and all," Karla says, taking a bite of her food. Can't she give me a break?

"Hush now dear," the queen scolds, making Karla clench her jaw. "Anyways, just get a little bit of each and if you don't finish it-"

"I'll finish it for you," Layton interrupts, giving me a smile. I see Karla open her mouth to say something but one look from Drew and she's back to silently eating her food. I smile at Layton and look around at the food. Despite my first impressions, no one here besides two people are making me regret my decision to come.

I copy what the others had done and take a little bit of everything. It looks like it's too little since my plate is only half full. I don't bother to get anything else though and instead just move further back against my chair.

Servants come out of the kitchen holding a pitcher. One whiff and I instantly recognize it as blood.

Human blood.

Although I'm totally against drinking human blood, it's ingrained in my nature to love it. Add to the fact that I've only had one tiny cup this entire month, you've got a starving vampire. I silently groan when I watch the servants pour the blood into the glasses, filling each one to the rim.

As expected, I'm skipped but I almost beg the servant to give me a cup. Another one comes by and pours what smells like red wine into my glass and I thank him. He looks surprised that I even said a word to him but nods and curtly walks away.

Looking back at the table, I realize that I'm going to have to endure this entire dinner while fighting my hunger for blood. The smell is everywhere and it's overwhelming. Maybe if I just keep drinking the wine and pretend that it's blood it'll help tone down my urges and stop me from doing something I'll regret.

"So...Sabrina was it? You're the new hunter. Tell me, what experiences do you have with hunting?" the queen asks, sipping her blood. I feel an itching sensation in my throat so I grab a forkful of something on my plate and take a bite, quickly swallowing to try and ease the pain.

"My family loves deer meat. Sometimes turkey but that's only if the deer go south for a few months. They don't have money to pay for the taxes so I help by hunting the food for them so we don't have to pay for food that much," I say.