Bitten – Episode 3

Chapter 3

 

The interior of the building was just as stunning as the exterior. The ceilings were high and painted white. Stained glassed windows littered the maroon wallpapered halls, and chandeliers hung from the ceiling, casting a yellow glow upon everything it could. We entered what I assumed to be a living room because rose and chocolate colored furniture littered the area and there was a gigantic flat screen against one of the walls. The walls in this room seemed to be made out of old oak. I was actually a little impressed. Everything was decorated and styled extravagantly.

 

Vincent and Joel didn’t allow me to look in each room good enough for me to really be able to take in the full impressiveness, but I could just imagine what they held. Vincent tugged me through hall after endless hall, keeping a wary eye open. Joel did the same, glancing over his back every few moments. It was hard to keep up with their fast pace, and I found myself almost out of breath.

 

We soon came to a large, oak door that had gold engravings on it. I stared at it in shock. Gold engravings on a door? Where was I again? Vincent knocked on the door three times consecutively, before stepping away. Not even five seconds later the door opened, revealing a man that bore a conspicuous resemblance to Vincent, shaggy brown hair and all, but instead of having sapphire eyes, this man had emerald eyes. Despite their color difference, this man’s eyes still held the intensity of Vincent’s. They widened slightly when they landed on me.

 

“Vince, what is this?” the emerald-eyed man asked, turning his shocked gaze onto Vincent.

 

“Can we come in, Sebastian?” Vincent asked, ignoring his doppelganger’s question. “It’s important.

 

After a moment’s hesitation, Sebastian nodded, stepping out of the way, and letting Vincent drag me in. Joel followed after and I heard him murmur a polite greeting to Sebastian. Vincent shoved me towards a large black bed in the center of the room, and I fell onto it in surprise. I quickly righted myself and glared at him, my head spinning yet again.

 

“Is she a human?” Sebastian asked, staring at me curiously.

 

“Yes, I am,” I snapped, irritated that he was talking about me like I wasn’t there. I really hated when people did that.

 

 

“I can’t erase her memory,” Vincent told Sebastian, a scowl on his face. “I tried twice. Joel tried. She still has her memory.” “You drank from her?”

 

Vincent nodded. “She interrupted my first meal.”

 

“Hmm…” Sebastian came over to me, kneeling down to my height. Immediately, I scooted myself backwards on the bed, wanting to put as much distance between him and myself as possible. He raised an eyebrow in amusement at my actions. When I was a considerable distance away I stopped and watched him warily.

 

“She’s terrified,” Sebastian commented with a small smile. “How cute.”

 

Cute? How was being terrified cute? Was this guy some kind of weirdo? If he were it would be a shame since he was so handsome… My eyes widened as I realized what I just thought. Handsome? What was I doing? Checking out the enemy? I narrowed my eyes at Sebastian. It was his fault for sharing the same looks as Vincent. Even that perfect jaw structure…

 

“Out of pure curiosity, why did you bring her back to the mansion?”

 

“I didn’t know what else to do,” Vincent admitted in an irritated voice. “This is the first time something like this has ever happened. Then she passed out before I could figure out what to do back at the school.”

 

“That isn’t my fault,” I insisted, glaring at the vampire before me. “You know, learning vampires are real and having one drink your blood in one night is a lot to take in. Not to mention I’m anemic! I could have died!” “You’re anemic?”

 

I turned to Sebastian, who had an amused look on his face. “Yeah, so?”

 

“How ironic. A vampire kidnapping an anemic human,” he mused with a small laugh. “Great choice, Vince.”

 

“That’s what I said,” Joel added, grinning.

 

“Just try to erase her memory,” Vincent snapped.

 

“As you wish, brother.”

 

As Sebastian said those words, something clicked in my head. Brothers! That explained it. How did I not realize that before? It was so obvious! Well, I thought dryly, the fact that I wanted to completely deny that vampires existed, let alone had families, might be one of the leading factors…

 

Suddenly Sebastian was on the bed with me, kneeling about a foot away. His face was only inches away from mine. Immediately I moved backwards again, letting out a gasp of surprise as I pitched backwards off the bed. Before my head could

 

make contact with the floor, I felt someone catch me, and proceed to rectify me.

 

Now on my feet, off the bed, I glanced behind me and saw Joel smirking.

 

“You almost had a nasty crash there, love.”

 

“Don’t call me that!”

 

“Why not… love ?”

 

“Because,” I started, frowning at him. “You sound like one of those cheesy British people that someone would read about in a book.” Joel grinned. “But I am British.”

 

For a moment, I was caught off guard. “Huh?”

 

Joel laughed at my expression. “Just because I don’t have a heavy accent doesn’t mean I’m not British,” he told me. “I’ve been here so long, I’ve lost it. And ‘love’ is a friendly form of address and is used a lot, actually.”

 

Now that I was listening more closely for his accent, I could catch a British accent hinting at each word. “Oh,” I finally said lamely.

 

“You two can chat later, but for now, we have to see if we can erase this idiot’s memory,” Vincent growled, narrowing his eyes at Joel.

 

“If her memory is erased, we won’t be able to chat later, Vivi,” Joel responded, rolling his eyes.

 

“Yeah, Vivi,” I teased just to annoy him.

 

Vincent glared at me, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead ten times over. I inhaled sharply, frightened by his intimidating gaze. Without warning, Sebastian was in front of me, cutting off my eye contact with Vincent. I jumped violently in shock, taking a step away from him. When Sebastian raised his hand, I flinched, bringing my hands to my face.

 

“Vince, what did you do to her?” Sebastian inquired, watching me curiously. “What do you mean? I didn’t do anything.” “Then why is she so terrified?”

 

“How should I know?” Vincent said with a scowl. “Just try to erase her mind, damn it.”

 

“Even more so considering your status.”

 

“I realize this.”

 

“Joel,” Sebastian said, addressing the blonde vampire. “News about her must not be spread outside of the family and those who live here, understood?” Joel bowed deeply. “Understood.”

 

“I think you mean she stays a secret between the three of us,” Vincent interjected, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

 

“Vince, we have to tell mom and dad. Do you not understand how much trouble

 

you’ve brought upon yourself?”

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“I understand it fine!”

 

“Then we have to let our parents know.”

 

“It’d be so much simpler to just kill her…”

 

I gawked at Vincent, my eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. Joel raised an eyebrow at my reaction, while Vincent didn’t even spare me a glance. Sebastian sighed, shaking his head.

 

“First, that is against the law, and second, considering your position and mine, going against the law is practically suicide. You have to think of your status and image, not only for you, but for the family as well.”

 

“I don’t care what other people think of me,” Vincent snapped. “And I didn’t say I was going to kill her, I just said it’d be easier if I had.”

 

I relaxed somewhat now. As long as I wasn’t going to die… Wait, no. I couldn’t relax! What was I thinking? This place was probably full of creatures that shouldn’t exist! These dangerous, horrifying, and stunning creatures. A small frown slipped onto my face. No matter how much vampires scared me, I had to admit they were definitely eye-catching. It was funny how nature worked. It gave one of the worst predators in the world the exact advantage it needed to capture its prey. In this case, the vampires acquired inhumanly good looks.

 

But hey, it’d be unnatural for someone, especially a woman, not to think people who looked like the three men before me were attractive. Somebody could be both a serial killer and a gorgeous guy. It was the same thing… Except these serial killers claimed they didn’t actually kill, and they sucked blood. And they kidnapped me. Which was kind of a downer. “What’s your name?”

 

My attention snapped away from my thoughts and onto Sebastian. For a second I debated on ignoring him, but decided it wouldn’t be my wisest choice. “Emily.” “I’m Sebastian,” he responded, holding out a hand to me. “Nice to meet you.”

 

I stared at him like he was crazy. He wanted me to shake his hand? I could barely stand being five feet away from him, let alone touch him! And did he expect me to say it was nice to meet him back? His brother kidnapped me!

 

Finally Sebastian dropped his hand, a frown appearing on his face. To my surprise, I actually felt a little guilty for turning him down. I bit my lip, scolding myself. There was nothing to feel guilty about! It wasn’t my fault I was terrified of vampires and didn’t want to touch them. Just trying to realize they really did exist

 

 

was hard! It was like my mind was trying to reject the entire idea— not that I wouldn’t mind that, but now I was aware. And they weren’t going away. “Sebastian may not mind if you don’t shake his hand, but when we go to see my parents you will treat them with respect,” a low voice commanded in my ear. My head whipped around and I found Vincent not even a foot away from me. I staggered to the side, trying to put space between us. Was he trying to give me a heart attack? He smirked at me, raising an eyebrow.

 

“You’re just like a kitten that has been taken home for the first time,” Joel commented, smiling at me.

 

“Except I’ve been kidnapped and this is not my home,” I responded, frowning at the blonde man.

 

“For now it is,” Vincent interjected. “And probably for awhile.”

 

“For awhile? I need to go home!”

 

“Too bad.”

 

“My family is going to be worried sick!”

 

“And?”

 

I stared at him, my mouth open in disbelief. “They might think I’m dead! I can’t do that to my parents! I need to go home!” Once more tears were burning in my eyes, but I refused to let them spill. “Please!”

 

“Not happening,” Vincent snapped. “You’re staying here whether you like it or not.”

 

“Vivi, don’t be so harsh,” Joel reprimanded.

 

“What? I’m just telling her the truth! It’s better not to have her get her hopes up and then crush them.”

 

“Yes, but you don’t have to do it like that,” Sebastian cut in, sending Vincent a disapproving look.

 

The lump in my throat was growing as I fought to control my emotions. Somewhere in my mind I knew I wasn’t going to be going home any time soon. But I really didn’t want to face that fact. I had no idea what was going to happen to me now. Was Sebastian telling the truth when he had said that it was against their law to kill a human?

 

“Tell me honestly,” I started, looking into Sebastian’s emerald eyes. “Am I going to die?”

 

Sebastian looked surprised for a moment, but then he shook his head. “Not by our hands, no.”

 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 

 

“He means that the only way you’ll die is if you kill yourself,” Vincent informed me in a bored tone. “I’m sure you heard us earlier. It’s illegal to kill a human.” Surprisingly, hearing that again made me feel more relaxed. There was nothing that could ever make me want to kill myself, not even being kidnapped, and hearing that they couldn’t kill me made a little calmer. I still hated the whole part about me being kidnapped though. It wasn’t exactly my idea of a good time. “Well, it’d be best not to defer informing our parents about our… guest,” Sebastian stated, his eyes flicking to me for a split-second. “They’ll only be more upset if we wait.”

 

“Fine,” Vincent agreed in an irksome tone. He then turned to me and I felt myself cringe away from his penetrating gaze. “You,” he started, addressing me. “What?”

 

“When we enter whatever room my parents are in, you will bow. Don’t move or speak after that unless spoken to,” Vincent ordered.

 

I stared at him incredulously. I had been kidnapped, and he wanted me to show respect to his parents? Was he kidding me? “You want me to bow… to my kidnapper’s parents?”

 

“And you’ll do as you’re told.”

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I laughed without humor. “What makes you think that I’ll listen to you?” Before I could blink I was on the bed again with my back pressed against the mattress and Vincent on top of me, holding me down by my throat. A quivery breath escaped my lips as my heart went into a frenzy from the sudden proximity of the vampire above me. I couldn’t even scream. His sapphire eyes bore into mine menacingly, making my pounding heart stop momentarily.

 

“Vincent,” I heard Sebastian say in a reproachful tone. “Stop being so physical. You’ll accidentally kill the poor girl.”

 

Vincent ignored his brother and continued to glower at me. “Just because we can’t kill you doesn’t mean that we can’t make you wish you were dead,” he said quietly. “The best thing for you to do is obey us.”

 

A lump formed in my throat while I stayed stock-still, waiting for Vincent to move off of me. I wanted to go home. I wanted to leave this place and never come back. I wanted my mom and dad. What in the world could I have done to deserve this?

 

Was this some kind of joke some god was playing on me because my fear of vampires was supposedly nonsensical?

 

Finally Vincent pulled away from me, but not before grabbing my forearm and dragging me up with him as well. “You will address my mother and father only if

 

 

they speak directly to you and if you’re even the slightest bit rude to them I’ll make sure you regret it,” he warned me, letting go of my arm.

 

“Why?” I asked quietly, trying to swallow the lump in my throat.

 

“Why what?”

 

“What’s so special about your parents? Why do I have to bow to them and address them with respect?”

 

Vincent looked at me like I was the stupidest person in the world. “Are you stupid? You can’t figure it out?”

 

A scowl of annoyance forced its’ way onto my face as I glared at Vincent. “If I could, I wouldn’t be asking.”

 

Joel snickered from the other side of the room, earning a death look from Vincent. Joel stopped laughing immediately. Vincent turned back to me, his expression caught between amusement and irritation.

 

“My family is royalty,” Vincent told me, a smug smirk now appearing on his face. “You’re about to meet the queen and king of the vampire world.”

 

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