Bitten – Episode 10
Chapter 10 ♀
what do you do if you see anyone?”
“Duck and run.”
Samuel nodded approvingly. “Very good. What if they chase after you?”
I hesitated. “Stop and make up an excuse?”
“Wrong,” Vincent responded, turning around to look at me. “Keeping running.”
“But that will make it more suspicious!”
“That will make it more suspicious,” he mimicked, changing his pitch to match mine. “Keep your head low and that’s that. Now get out of the car and let’s go.” A scowl crossed my face. Maybe Vincent didn’t even know the definition of nice. Nevertheless, I climbed out of the car and into the chilly winter rain. After pulling up my hood, I followed Vincent and Samuel towards the entrance of Walmart. Feelings of nostalgia washed over me as I went through the entrance. Even though the Rutherford’s mansion was only about half an hour away, it felt like I’d been all the way across the country while there and I was coming back home after a long vacation.
“So what are you getting?” I asked Vincent, glancing at him.
He kept his gaze straight ahead, heading towards the back of the store. “Stuff.”
Resisting the urge to glare at him, I kept a polite expression on. “Like?”
“The stuff you buy here.”
“Forget it,” I snapped. “I thought it’d be easier if I helped by getting a few things for you.”
He gazed at me thoughtfully for a second. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea. Samuel, you go get the toothpaste, toilet paper, floss, and whatever else is over there that we need.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” Samuel responded with a hand salute.
“What about me? What should I get?”
Vincent raised an eyebrow. “You think I’d let you go off alone? Nice try. But I, unlike you, am not stupid. You’ll try to run away if I let you do that.” I shook my head in denial. “No I won’t!”
“You think that now,” Samuel interjected. “But I’m with Vivi on this-” “Don’t call me that,” Vincent growled.
I pursed my lips at them. “You’re making me feel like a captive. The Queen said I was a guest.”
Vincent gave me a mocking look. “That sucks. For today you’re my captive then,” he said, pushing me forwards.
“Sounds kinky,” Samuel commented in a teasing tone.
Vincent sent him a hard glare while I blushed in embarrassment. He had to make it awkward, didn’t he? Vincent gave him a hard shove before stalking off in the other direction, snatching up my wrist and towing me along. I immediately tried to pull it free, remembering the first night with him. I still had bruises on my other hand. He didn’t let go.
“I’m not a kid, Vincent. Don’t drag me around like one!” I finally burst, planting my feet firmly into the ground.
He rolled his eyes at me, but let go of my wrist. “Stay within five feet of me.”
Narrowing my eyes, I crossed my arms. “I’m not a kid.”
He ignored my stubbornness. “What do you like for snacks?”
“Why?”
“Obviously to buy something for you to, I don’t know… snack on?”
I ground my teeth together. A ghost of a smirk danced on his face, causing me to become more irritated. Instead of snapping back at him like he expected, I swallowed my anger and nodded. “Oh. I like grapes.” .
He frowned, obviously disappointed in my reaction. “They don’t sell grapes here.”
“Oh. I like apples.”
“They don’t sell apples here either,” he pointed out. “Don’t you come here often?”
I shrugged. “Oh. I like bananas.”
He scowled. “Stop being stupid.”
“What am I doing wrong?” I asked with an innocent look.
“They don’t sell fruit here!” he growled.
I blinked. “Oh. In that case, I like carrots…”
He sent me an annoyed look. “Shut up. Never mind, you’re getting whatever I get you.” He muttered something else that sounded suspiciously like a curse.
“Trail mix is fine,” I told him, dropping my game. It was fun while it lasted, but I didn’t want to end up with tuna fish or something like that. “The breakfast kind…” He didn’t reply and began walking again. I kept up with him, deciding it’d be best to follow his rules. After all, he was taking me out even though I wasn’t allowed to. That counted for something.
Keeping pace with him, I quickly stole a glance at his face. His mouth was set in a frown, but it still made him look attractive. I smiled wryly. Why couldn’t vampires be ugly like in the movies? Then it’d be easier to actually harbor ill feelings towards them-even though they’d kidnapped me, I was finding it harder and harder to dislike them. The Queen and King were nice, and so were Fiona, Sebastian, Samuel, and Joel. Even Vincent had his moments. I even felt like I’d known them for months, not just a few days. But they still did kidnap me. A little part of my mind was telling me to hate them, while the rest was telling me to not worry about it.
I shook my head, clearing my thoughts. It didn’t matter whether or not I was supposed to hate them. I didn’t, and that was that. Maybe at first I did, but it was a
different story then. They weren’t doing anything to harm me. This predicament was just as troubling for them as for me, if not more. The least I could do was try and keep out of trouble the best I could.
“Do you want anything else?” Vincent asked, plucking a box of trail mix off of the shelf. “Cereal?”
“Honey Bunches of Oats.”
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Really?”
“What?” I asked, taking a defensive stance. Was he going to make fun of my cereal choice?
He laughed through his nose. “You have boring food taste.”
“What do you eat? Count Chocula?” I snorted.
He rolled his eyes at my joke. “Of course not. Can’t you guess I’m a Lucky Charms person?”
“I actually think you’re more of a Fruit Loop,” I responded, laughing at my own joke.
“Out of all the cereal jokes in the world… You would choose the Fruit Loops one,” he muttered to himself, pulling down a box of Fruit Loops of the shelf. “I haven’t actually had these in awhile.”
I watched him in surprise. He was actually getting Fruit Loops? It didn’t seem fitting at all. No, the whole vampires eating human food thing didn’t fit at all. It was incredibly mystifying.
“Do you like Nutella?” he asked in a bored tone, grabbing my cereal from the shelf and sticking both his and mine under his arm. “Fiona loves that stuff.” I grinned. “I do too.”
Vincent made a face. “That stuff is gross.”
“No it’s not!”
“I hate chocolate,” he told me flatly. “And anything related to it.”
I almost gasped. How could he hate chocolate? The only other person I knew that didn’t like chocolate was a girl named Kate in my grade, but she was strange to begin with. “You’re weird.”
He scoffed. “I wouldn’t be talking. No normal human can resist having their memory erased.”
“I didn’t resist it,” I snapped. I’d been practically begging for it! “It just didn’t work.”
“Either way, it’s weird.”
“You know what’s also weird?”
He didn’t look interested, but played along anyway. “What?”
“Going on a Walmart trip with the vampire who kidnapped you,” I told him, pursing my lips. “Who gets along with their kidnapper?”
The corners of his lips twitched into a small smile. “Apparently you do, stupid.”
I glowered at him. “Don’t call me-”
“Move,” he ordered, pushing me forwards. “We’re getting bread and than leaving. The kitchen help will get the other groceries.” “Why don’t they get all of them?”
He gave me a frustrated look. “Because they never buy any good snacks, that’s why. Now go.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I muttered, sweeping into a low bow. When I erected myself, Vincent was standing rigid, his eyes hard. “What?” I questioned, unnerved by his look.
“Don’t do that again,” he hissed, pushing me forwards again. “I’m not a king.” Stumbling from the force he was putting on my back, I glanced over my shoulder, confused. “I was only kidding!”
He narrowed his eyes. “Well don’t.”
“Who shoved the stick up your butt today?”
“It never was taken out,” he snapped back. “Now shut up and walk. Evidently you can’t do both at the same time.”
I twisted away from Vincent and made a face at him as he passed me. He had some serious mood swings. We went straight to the bread aisle, silence passing between us. I made a mental note to never joke about royalty to him. It seemed like that was a taboo subject to him. For a moment I debated on apologizing to him, but it wasn’t my fault he got his panties in a twist, so I decided not to. “Wheat or white?”
“Wheat,” I responded quietly.
“Ah, so just like Vivi, huh?”
My heart leapt into my throat as I felt a firm pair of hands land on my shoulders. Vincent’s head snapped behind me, his eyes narrowing at the person holding on to me. I stood stock still, trying to calm my now racing heartbeat. Whoever was holding onto me didn’t sound like Samuel. “Phillip, what are you doing here?”
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The guy holding onto me finally let go of my shoulders and I twisted around to see a young man with shaggy black hair grinning at me. His eyes were as dark as his hair, but his skin was as pale as Vincent’s. Their face structures looked eerily alike as well. My eyes widened. Another sibling?
“You don’t sound too excited to see your favorite elder cousin,” Phillip
complained, batting his eyelashes.
Cousin. That explained it.
“Stop acting like that,” Vincent demanded. “Who are you, Joel? Samuel?” Phillip laughed, shrugging his shoulders. “I just wondered how you’d react if I acted like them.
“I’d have to kill you. Those two are enough.”
“Very well,” Phillip said, suddenly turning serious. “Why is Emily out of the main manor? She shouldn’t be here, let alone off the premises.”
Vincent clenched his jaw. “She’s not bothering anyone or trying to escape. It’s no big deal. No one knows, anyway.”
Phillip looked dubious. “I do.”
“And you’re not going to tell anyone, right?”
“I won’t, but my father is with me as well… You’d do best to leave before you’re
found out.”
“Phillip!”
For the second time I jumped in surprise, turning to see a pretty brunette coming towards us. She looked irritated. When her gaze landed on me, her brows furrowed deeply in confusion. “I didn’t know you were interested in girls, Vincent…”
“Haha Claire,” he responded sarcastically. “I didn’t know you could actually last more than a week with a guy.”
She smiled politely at him. “Is she a human? Can’t get a vampire?”
“Going after royalty again?” he retorted.
Phillip rolled his eyes. “Come on you two. You don’t have to argue every time you see each other.”
“He starts it,” Claire cried the same time Vincent said, “She starts it.”
I looked between the three of them, feeling thoroughly perplexed. They were all vampires? Claire didn’t know who I was? It seemed like every vampire knew who I was. But the King did mention no one outside the family was supposed to know I existed, so that was probably why…
“My father’s coming,” Phillip suddenly started. “You should go.” Vincent nodded, grabbing my arm with his free hand. “Let’s go.” “Wait,” I said, trying to pull my hand free. “Now.”
“Bye Emily! See you soon!” Phillip called after me.
I stared back at him, unsure how to respond. Claire gave me another curious gaze as Vincent dragged me away. I adverted my gaze, turning forwards again. As I did so, my gaze landed on a very familiar blonde head. I froze, causing Vincent to come to a stop.
“What are you doing?” he demanded. “We have to go.”
I swallowed nervously, watching the blonde maneuver through the men’s clothing.
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“Jake…”
“Who’s Jake?”
“My brother!” I responded, abruptly bolting forwards.
Like a flash, Vincent’s hand was around my waist, effectively pulling me to a stop. “You’re not allowed to talk to him.”
“I won’t talk to him!” I promised. “Just let me go closer.”
“No,” he responded, dragging me in the opposite direction. “We need to go before I get caught.”
I struggled to free myself. “No! Vincent, just wait one moment!”
“No!”
“Let go of me!”
“Stop being a brat,” he growled.
I elbowed him as hard as I could in his chest, but ended up only hurting myself. Wincing in pain, I tried to duck under his arm. He tightened it, ruining my plan of escape.
“Just one moment,” I pleaded with him. “Please? I just need to look at him…”
“No.”
Tears began to form at my eyes now. I was so close to him… Even if we hardly get along, it felt like I hadn’t seen him in a year, and now he was right there. I needed to at least hear his voice. Just for a second…
Vincent seemed to guess my motives and moved faster, now heading towards the cash registers. “Stop struggling, stupid. You’ll make a scene.” “Just one moment!” I cried.
“No means no!”
I glared at him, clenching my fists. “I’m not even going to talk to him!”
“I told you before you came in if you see anyone you knew you couldn’t come in contact with him,” he told me coldly. “That goes for your brother as well.” “But-”
“We’re leaving. Samuel’s already in line.”
“You’re such an insensitive asshole!” I nearly shouted.
He gave me a warning glare. “Shut up. You’re being too loud.”
Clamping my mouth shut, I followed him to where Samuel was standing. I blinked furiously to make the wetness in my eyes go away. There was no way I’d cry in front of these two. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I’d see my brother at the end of the week anyway… But the least Vincent could do was at least allow me to look at him a little longer. I clenched my jaw in anger.
“Something happen?” Samuel inquired, watching me with an amused face. “You look upset.”
I turned my back on him, crossing my arms. It wasn’t his fault, but I didn’t feel like talking.
“She’s just being a brat.”
“I’m going to guess you did something then, Vivi.”
A smirk crossed my face. Samuel was smarter than he let on.
“Pay for the damn groceries,” Vincent responded, sounding tired. “Let’s just go home.”
My muteness continued the rest of the time we were in Walmart, and in the car on the ride home. The rain was heavier now, pounding loudly on the roof of the car. I sat in the back, my head resting against the cool windowpane. My earlier anger at Vincent hadn’t gone away, but it had died down a little. He was right. I wasn’t supposed to make contact with anyone at the store. It would have actually been bad if I’d let Jake see me- I was supposed to be across the country. He’d know something was up, and it wasn’t like I could explain what was happening.
Holding in a groan, I lightly banged my head against the window. I shouldn’t have called Vincent an insensitive asshole. My face warmed up at my immaturity. I was too embarrassed to apologize for it too.
By the time we reached the mansion, thunder was rumbling in the sky. Unease washed through me as I glanced at the sky. Thunderstorms and me didn’t mix. Another crash of thunder sounded in the sky, causing my heart rate to spike. No lightening came, which calmed me a little. Maybe it’d just pass quickly.
Vincent stayed quiet as he unloaded the groceries from the trunk, carrying them in one hand with ease. Samuel noticed the tension between us and whistled awkwardly to himself as we trudged towards the house. Rain soaked my jacket and hair the whole way, so when I finally entered the building I was dripping. My face slammed into something hard and I looked up to see Vincent’s back. Just as I was about to say something insulting, a different voice spoke up. “Where did you go?”
My eyes moved past Vincent to where Solomon was standing, a frown etched into
his face. Crap. I swallowed nervously.
“Walmart,” Vincent muttered.
“With Emily?”
“She insisted.”
Solomon gave him a disapproving look. “Vincent, I specifically told you no one outside the manor could know she was here. I also told you she couldn’t leave here.”
Vincent squared his shoulders. “The only person we saw there was Phillip, and he knows about her.”
“Just Phillip?” Solomon questioned skeptically.
“Just Phillip.”
I stared at Vincent’s back in surprise. He was lying so blatantly to his father! What if it was important to mention Claire? She didn’t know who I was… Maybe it didn’t matter.
“Samuel, why didn’t you try to stop him?”
Samuel chuckled sheepishly. “I actually kind of egged him on…”
Solomon sighed deeply. “I should have known…”
“Sorry, Sir.”
“Don’t do it again,” the King ordered seriously. “If I catch you taking Emily out again, you’re grounded.”
Vincent snorted. I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. Hearing Vincent being threatened with grounding was unexpectedly amusing.
“Fiona made dinner for you guys. Why don’t you go join her?”
Vincent didn’t respond. He just moved past his father, heading down the hallway. After a moment I decided to follow him, bidding adieu to the King. I hastened to keep up with Vincent, who was walking at a quick pace. Thunder cracked overhead, surprisingly loud through the mansion. I winced, taking longer strides so I was right behind him.
“Um, sorry you got caught,” I started, trying to lessen the awkwardness.
He ignored me. I scowled. Whatever.
When we entered the kitchen, Fiona nearly tackled me in a hug. “You’re back! I thought something happened when I couldn’t find you!”
I patted her back clumsily. It was still surprising having such a touchy-feely person around. “I just went to Walmart… no big deal.”
“Is that Emily?” a new voice inquired and moments later Sebastian appeared from the door on the other side of the room. Relief washed across his face. “Good. You’re okay.” He turned to Vincent. “That was really stupid, Vince.” Vincent shrugged. “Save it.”
“You’re lucky nothing happened to her! Imagine if you’d run into someone who doesn’t like the idea of having a human stay with us? She could have been hurt!” M eyes widened in surprise. “What?”
Sebastian turned back to me, his eyes softening. “There are vampires that don’t exactly like us that know you’re here and they aren’t happy about it. I don’t know what they’d do to you if they found you…”
“They wouldn’t have done anything,” Vincent interjected angrily. “I was with her the whole time. It’s no big deal. Father didn’t make anything out of it, so neither should you.”
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Sebastian returned his gaze to Vincent, looking stern. “Unlike you, I am worried about her safety. And so is Fiona.”
“Whatever,” Vincent growled, twisting on his heel, and walking out of the kitchen again. “I’m not eating.”
I stared after him for a moment while Fiona tried calling him back. Sebastian sighed lightly, shaking his head.
“Sebastian,” Fiona scolded, narrowing his eyes at him. “You know Vincent gets upset easily.”
“Well he should think about this one,” he responded flatly. “Emily was put in
danger.”
“But…”
He shook his head. “You know he’ll get over it, Fiona.”
She sighed. “I know… But still.”
“Let’s just eat,” Sebastian offered. “Emily, are you hungry?”
I nodded my head slowly. “Yeah. If I’m in danger while going out now, what about when I leave for good?”
He hesitated a moment. “I’m not sure…”
I blanked. That wasn’t good.
Dinner passed by quickly. It was a silent occasion. When it was finished, Sebastian led me back to my room. Now tired, I said goodnight and went over to my bed, plopping down on it heavily. A yawn left my lips and I stretched. Thunder was still rumbling outside, causing my feeling of uneasiness to return. It’d be hard to get to sleep tonight. Nevertheless, I stripped and changed into a pair of pajamas from my
house. After shutting off the lights, I slipped under the covers. Just as I did so, a bright flash of lightning streaked across the sky, almost immediately followed by a crash of thunder that nearly shook the house.
I bolted up in my bed, my heart pounding a mile a minute. The storm would officially start when I was about to go to sleep. The wind changed so now the rain was pounding against my window. Another burst of lightning tore through the blackness outside, illuminating the dark trees in the distance.
A groan escaped my lips and I fell back against my pillows roughly. I clamped my hand around my ears to try to block out the sound of the storm, but I could still hear it perfectly clear. Swallowing, I bit my lip, wishing I were at home. Jake would always let me sleep in his room during a thunderstorm because he knew I was terrified of them. But now I was stuck in a house full of vampires that probably didn’t even think twice of the storm, let alone were afraid.
Suddenly the door to my bedroom opened and I quickly unclamped my ears, trying
to lie as still as possible. Maybe I feigned sleep, whoever it was would go away. I
wasn’t going to let any of the vampires here know my childish fear. Light flooded
the room and I fought to make my breathing calm and regular. The frantic beating
of m heart was making it a hard feat.
“I know you’re awake, stupid.”
My eyes snapped open. It had to be Vincent, didn’t it? I turned to glare at him. “What are you doing here?”
He shrugged, plopping himself down in a chair. “Sebastian’s looking for me so I figured this was the safest place to hide from him.” “Why is he looking for you?”
“Probably to scold me for earlier,” he told me, his voice dripping with anger. “It’s none of his business.”
I lowered my gaze. “I’m sorry. I wouldn’t have pestered you to take me out if I knew it’d be so troublesome…”
“It’s not. Sebastian’s just trying too hard to act King-like.”
“But still…”
“Whatever. I put you in danger so we’re equal.”
My eyes snapped back up to him. “So I was in danger?”
He gave me a flat look. “I would have protected you if something happened. I highly doubt anyone will ever attack you though. You don’t pose any threat.” I could tell that was meant to be an insult, but I let it slide. “Oh.” “Go back to bed,” he ordered.
“What are you going to do?”
“Stay here until the storm dies out,” he informed me. “It’ll be over soon.”
I stared at him. He couldn’t know I was afraid of thunderstorms… Could he? He noticed my wary look and smirked, pointing to his chest.
“I could hear your heart beat. I guess most child fears stay with you, huh?”
I blushed, turning away from him. “Shut up.”
He chuckled. “Fine. But just so you know, I won’t let you live this down. Boom,” he said just as the thunder cracked overhead again. My heart skipped a beat at the loud noise. “Haha.”
“If you’re really that scared, I won’t be opposed to hold you in your sleep tonight.”
I turned my heated face to scowl at him. “Don’t even think about it.”
He smirked at me. “I take it it’s okay to leave the room then?”
“No wait,” I responded quickly as he stood up. “You can stay. In that chair…” “That’s what I thought,” he said triumphantly, dragging the chair to my bedside. “I’ll keep the scaredy-cat company.”
Ignoring his jibe, once more I turned to my other side, this time more comfortable than before. Even with the thunder booming outside and the lightning filling the sky, I felt safe. It was weird to say it was because of Vincent. But that was the truth. Eventually tiredness swept over me and I closed my eyes, finally managing to fall asleep.
