The King's Pet

#19

Have you ever woken up to the feeling when you just cannot get up? No matter how hard you try? Well, that was me right now. I felt drained. Like I ran a fifty-mile marathon (which is unrealistic since I can barely walk up the stairs without being out of breath).

I stared at the ceiling, hoping that it had the answers to all my problems. It didn't. I checked the time had a mini panic attack. It's 10:30 in the morning. Shit. I overslept by two hours. Just as I was about to get up and get ready (or at least try to), I heard a soft knock on the door. My eyes narrowed at it. Was that Mer? 

"Come in," I answered, my voice hoarse from all the crying yesterday. 

Seth emerged from my door, casually leaning on the wall as he shut it. My eyes widened. Was I in trouble?

He smiled gently. "No pet, you're not in trouble."

I mustered a glare, though it didn't have its usual force. "Stop reading my mind."

Chuckling, he came by and sat on the side of my bed. "How are you doing?" he asked, genuinely concerned as he took my hand that was laying in my lap in both of his, tracing it absently.

My heart warmed at his affection. "I'm fine. Ish."

A playful smile graced his lips. "Ish?"

"Yes, ish," I agreed.

"You're a terrible liar, Chloe."

I dropped my head, "And here I thought you were totally believing me." I sighed. Humor was always what I went back to when I wanted to cover up, but he seemed far too perceptive to be tricked by my methods of concealment. 

"How did you deal with it?" I asked. He knew what I was referring to. I didn't really feel like saying it out loud. 

"Well," he blew out a breath, almost like he was expecting this question, "When I killed for the first time, I was a wreck. The first thing I did was transform into a wolf and run into the forest. I kept running for what felt like hours until I reached a cliff. It was nighttime and a full moon so I howled. I howled so loud that everyone in the town heard it and hid in their houses."

"Typical," I shook my head.

"Anyway," he continued, "After that, my mind started to think about why I did what I did, and that helped me get over it. In all my years of being alive, I have never killed an innocent. I know it's not much better, but after living this long, in the world of vampires, you can't really help it. Vampires... we're not exactly the best species."

I snorted in agreement.

"But what really helped me get over it was talking to my mother, well, adoptive mother about it. She explained to me that my actions were very much justified and that I shouldn't feel guilty over it."

I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. He was right. I shouldn't feel guilty. The Pet shop owner was a horrible person. 

"Chloe," Seth started but faltered.

"Yes?"

"Where did you get the stake?" Seth asked curiously.

"It was his. The Pet Shop owner's."

"How did you..."

"I stole it before the auction. It was a retractable wooden blade so I hid it in my bra."

He sighed, "Of course you did."

I hid my grin. Of course I did. 

It was right before I was dragged off stage to be handed over to Seth. The Pet Shop owner had the blade on his waist belt (which looked more like a fanny pack in my opinion) so while he was distracted, I just snatched it off. I don't really know why I took it- perhaps it was because I thought that if he could steal my entire life, I could steal his wooden blade.

I heard a knock on the door and my head snapped up. I looked at Seth but he just smiled. "I asked them to bring your breakfast to you. I would've brought it up myself but I wanted to talk to you and I knew that you'd probably get distracted by the pancakes."

Aw. That's actually really sweet. Also... pancakes! Huh. Maybe I do get distracted by pancakes. Who cares? They're delicious. 

My mouth watered as the maid placed the tray on the bed table that they brought with them. Ohmigod they look so... so beautiful. 

I was more than ready to shove my hands on the plate and eat them, but the maid placed a fork and knife next to the plate and I figured that I should probably use those. Before you think 'wasn't she raised with manners?', as a matter of fact, I was. But I'm really hungry. 

The last time I ate was yesterday's breakfast. I know that may not seem like a lot of time but for me, it is. 

Seth watched me as I ate. Not in a creepy way or anything, more in fascination. Like I was some sort of incredibly interesting specimen that he couldn't stop looking at. But hey, what can I say? I am pretty awesome if I do say so myself. 

My mood swings were pretty weird; just a few minutes ago I was ready to cry and now I'm about as happy as a goat surrounded by, well, everything. Maybe I'm a goat... Goats eat everything. 

Overall, my emotions felt scattered and slightly unstable so I wasn't really sure what was going on but for now, I'm just gonna go with the flow. 

Anyway, my pancakes got over pretty quickly (as usual) and I felt a wave of sadness wash over me. But I pushed down my emotions because I don't want to be a cry baby. Yes, I killed a vampire. Yes, I feel extremely guilty but can I take it back? No. So I should stop obsessing over it. Besides, the guy was a prick. He was a cruel sadistic piece of shit that deserved to rot in hell. My actions were justified and I know that killing him was a bit extreme, but it was going to happen anyway- I just sped up the process.

At least I knew that fewer humans would be tortured- even if it was a minuscule percentage- at least I made some sort of change for a human's fate. 

Or I'm a horrible person and I'm just trying to justify my actions even though it was completely wrong and I become a potential vampire serial killer.

Either way, what's done is done so I can't change it. I was brought back from my thoughts when Seth spoke. "Pet, I have some work to do. If you feel like it, come out and we can do anything you like."

I nodded and I watched him turn to the door and leave.