“Hello girls,” he greeted back. His voice was relaxed and somewhat friendly, yet slightly under duress, far different from the venom I had heard in it before. He wasn’t looking at me, despite the fact that I was frozen in place and couldn’t look away from him. His eyes were still very red. “You mind if I speak with Miss Morris for a bit?”

“Not at all,” Rose said, much to my internal protest and fear. “We’re were just about to show her our common’s area, but we can wait.”

“It’ll just take a moment, I’ll bring her there afterwards.”

I shot Rose a pleading look. She gave me a pat and whispered reassuringly, “Don’t worry, he’s actually really nice. You’ll be okay.”

I swallowed. I had a really hard time believing that.

Within moments it was just me and this guy in the hallway. Awkward nerves began building up inside me and I could feel my stomach trying to tighten. It looked like he was just as uncomfortable, but now he had let his facade fall away and looked irritated.

“Follow me,” he ordered flatly. Without hesitation I followed, a single mantra chanting through my head fearfully. Don’t upset the vampire. Don’t upset the vampire. Don’t upset the vampire…

He led the way a short distance in the opposite direction the girls had gone and stopped in front of a door. After taking a moment, as if making sure no one followed, he opened the door and stepped inside. I walked in after him wordlessly.

It was a small-ish supply closet, with racks of cleaning supplies and toiletries and such. He flicked on the light and stood facing the opposite wall as the door closed behind me. In the back of my mind I made sure I was ready to throw it back open at a moments notice. I don’t know how much good that would do, but it gave me at least a false sense of encouragement.

He seemed to take a breath for a moment, and then turn to face me, a very firm, very impatient expression set in his eyes and mouth.

“What have you told them?” he demanded quietly.

“Nothing,” I replied instinctively, my heart rate shooting up and feeling very, very threatened. When his eyes flashed I quickly corrected myself. “I mean, I don’t know what you me-”

“I’m referring to what happened last night. Did you mention anything about us being outside the castle?”

“N-no, I’m mean, I don’t think I...I don’t think it was ever established or anything…”

His eyes searched mine, as if trying to decide if I was lying. The entire time I was very aware of the fact that the pulling sensation was almost magnetic now. He seemed satisfied and let out a slow breath.

“Good,” he said. “It needs to stay that way. You are not to mention, to ANYONE, that I was outside the castle walls, for any reason, understood?”

“Why-?” I began to ask but was cut short as his expression turned severe.

“Understood?” he re-emphasized in a low growl.

“Okay, okay! I won’t tell!” I assured, taking an instinctive step back towards the door.

“And you can’t tell anyone about this conversation either.”

My cheek twitched with a subtly growing irritation. This guy was starting to give me the impression of a spoiled brat rather than a scary monster.

“Okay,” I said slowly, my internal mantra from moments ago fading away. “Then what am I supposed to say?”

He gave me a condescending look. “You don’t say anything, I thought that was established?”

“Okay sure, but what if they ask what this was all about?” I gestured to the utility closet and our conversation in general.

“You tell them this happen,” he said, and grabbed my arm to yank me towards him.

“Wha-!” My indignant cry was cut short as my arms were suddenly pinned to my sides and a sharp pain pierced my neck. I thrashed for only a second before he let me go, wiping his mouth.

“That should be all the information they need,” he said cooly. “Understood?”

“You BIT me!” I exclaimed, my head reeling as I slapped my hand over the fresh wound. Jeez, was that really necessary?! I felt the hot blood seep through my fingers and saw the red run down my arm as the world started to tilt.

“Oh come on,” he jeered. “It wasn’t that bad, I barely took anything!”

“I don’t like seeing blood, you jerkface!” I yelled at him, angry, and then covered my mouth with my other hand as my stomach lurched. Unable to grab hold of support, my ballance toppled over.

He caught me before I hit the ground, his expression unsure and off guard. I was about to lose my breakfast. It had been so delicious though...

“Um, sorry,” I heard him murmur.

Whatever asshole, I thought to myself bitterly as I tried to mentally force my stomach to settle and not throw up and ignore the blood running down my arm.

He stiffened, a look of full offense on his face. “Did you just call me an asshole?”

I looked at him, confused and nauseated. “Uh, no? I didn’t say anything.”

His hands were still holding me up by my shoulders, and his eyes narrowed. “No, you definitely just called me an asshole.”

“Oh what, now you can read minds?” I joked sarcastically.

“Uh, yeah, that’s unfortunately how this stupid thing works,” he growled.

My eyes widened as I realized he wasn’t being sarcastic back.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

He gave me a flat expression. “I don’t appreciate being thought of as sarcastic, either.”

I pushed him away and leaned back against the metal shelving in the closet. “Great. JUST great…” I took a breath and pressed my lips tight. “Are we done here then?”

His expression didn’t change except for his eyes, which held a hint of confusion. “Yeah, we’re done.”

He reluctantly supported me the whole way from the closet and down the hall in the direction the girls had gone. It had only been a few minutes I’m sure, but that felt like an eternity. I never wanted to see this guy again, but I won’t be having a choice in the matter, it seems.

“The feeling is mutual,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

“Stay out of my head,” I grumbled back.

A few moments later we arrived. He leaned me against the door, and before I even knocked he was already gone from sight. Fine then.

They were already ready to catch me soon as the door opened, towels and bandages in hand. I toppled into their arms, my body still feeling shaky and weak, like I was about to faint again. I’m really surprised I hadn’t fainted again. Maybe I was already starting to get use to this.

“Easy Helen,” the long-haired twin, Alice I think, said as she and her sister Suzanne helped carry me inside to a chair. Rose had already pressed a compress to my neck after taking my hand away, and Claire started wiping up the blood.

“Jeez, what happened?” Claire asked. “You look like he nearly drained you.”

I was really glad they already knew, I didn’t want to have to deal with words.

“I get queasy,” I said briefly, and each one of their eyes flashed with understanding. Suzanne and Wendy went over to a nearby kitchenette and brought some tea and crackers. Alice was pulling ointment out of a first aid kit that looked like antibiotic, and Rose let up on the compress.

“Thankfully you’re not bleeding a lot,” Alice said gently. “But this is probably going to sting a lot and itch a lot.”

I braced myself and clenched my teeth; she wasn’t kidding. Whatever that ointment was, it wasn’t any antibiotic I’ve ever used. It burned like salt, and then a strange prickling sensation coated it until it was just an aching, itchy throb. Claire got a new towel and finished cleaning off my neck.

“What is that stuff?” I asked, eyeing the tube apprehensively.

“It’s kinda like a vampire-venom-ointment thing,” Claire said.

“It’s a healing ointment,” Alice rolled her eyes. “They figured out how to bottle healing aspects of vampire saliva and made it safe for humans to use.”

“It’s super useful for severe cuts and accidents,” Suzanne said, lifting my hand with an unsalted cracker in it to my mouth.

I took a nibble. “So vampire spit?”

“I mean, sure, yeah,” Alice said, making a somewhat exasperated face.

I took a slightly bigger bite. “...cool.” And gross.

Wendy handed me some peppermint tea and almost instantly my stomach started quelling. I freakin’ love mint, it’s so nice. I took a slow sip, feeling the warmth enter my system and my body beginning to relax as Rose applied a small bandage to the side of my neck where the fang marks had turned into throbbing welts.

“So, um,” Claire began kind of nervously. “What was it...like?”

I choked in surprise. “What was what like?”

“You know,” Suzanne and the rest were now also awkwardly curious. “Getting bit.”

I raised my eyebrow in confusion. “I thought you guys said you were food.”

“We donate blood,” Rose explained. “They don’t allow them to actually bite us, since there’s a lot of risk involved. They could lose control, we might turn into Brides and cause a supply limit, or into vampires ourselves, too many things could go wrong. So none of us have ever actually been bit.”

“Oh.” Oh. I placed a hand to my neck, thinking about the extra ramifications of feeding a vampire. Oh… How...how close was I to actually dying in that moment…?

“U-um, you don’t actually have to answer or anything if you don’t want to…” Claire’s voice snapped me back to the present. “We’re just...curious is all.”

“No, it’s okay,” I assured, pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind for a moment. “It was...well, like getting bit? Like someone biting you? It kind of happened so fast I didn’t really know how to process it. It hurt a lot, and I got dizzy, but that's just because I’m not to fond of the sight of blood…”

“How did you feel about it?” Alice asked. Wendy perked up in interest.

“How did I…?” I flushed with frustration about the encounter. “I was mad! I was scared, I didn’t know what he was going to do to me, he just...grabbed me and bit me! No warning whatsoever, and I-” I stopped, see their amused faces. “What?”

“You seem to be taking this pretty well, all things considered,” Rose said simply.

“Yeah,” Claire agreed. “You’ve had like, NO time to adjust to anything yet, and you already seem used to the idea of vampires existing and so on.”

With jolt I realized they might be right. I might have thought this was still a dream, but I had already given in to this reality and was simply complaining about it now. They were all so calm and casual about it all...I think it had already started rubbing off on me.

I sighed. “Well, I mean, what choice do I have here?” I replied darkly. “I’m here now and I can’t leave, so I guess it all just may as well happen.” I looked at their calm but concerned faces in turn, each one filled with a light opposite to what I felt inside. This was just normal life for them, like they just got to meet a transfer student.

“This is crazy,” I said, shaking my head in exhaustion. “So...so just so I have everything straight, I’ve become someone who is now the sole food source to the ruler of this castle, and now I can’t go home because of it, so now I have to live here and be food so that said ruler doesn’t die.”

“Sounds about right, yeah,” Claire said. “It’s not so bad once you get settled in. It’s not like you’ll be imprisoned in a holding cell or anything. You’ll be able to stay with us in the dorms if you want and we can help you get through everything, and you’ll have full access to the castle and courtyards. And, as you’ve seen, the food is delicious.

I nodded. “The food is pretty good,” I admitted humorously. They laughed a little.

After making sure I ate a little bit more they proceeded to show me around the common room area, and then up a spiral staircase to the dorm rooms, where each one of us had their own room. Their names were written on and decorated in what I guessed to be each one’s handwriting and style preference. I flushed when I saw mine though; presented on a temporary plaque in a fancy cursive font read Lady Helen Morris.

“Well,” Suzanne tried to offer comfort, “you are pretty much royalty now.”

“Greeaaaat,” I said groggily. Another notch to add to the stick, another anxiety to worry about. I really didn’t want to deal with that thought right now.

Rose saw how tired I look. “You know, we can always finish up the tour later if you want to take a nap and rest up.”

“That would be amazing,” I replied gratefully. I felt like I could sleep for a month straight at this point.

“Okay. We’ll be just downstairs if you need anything. There’s a bathroom in your room if you feel like getting cleaned up, and some spare clothes already in the dresser. We weren’t sure what your size would be so there’s kind of a grab bag of stuff.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, my eyes growing pretty heavy now. She chuckled and wished me a good rest. I closed the door and gently slapped my cheeks, and then proceeded to try and not think about anything. I focused instead on making my way to the shower, stripping out of my old, dirty and now slightly blood-stained clothes and let the warm water clear my head. It had been a VERY long day.

After the shower I settled on a pair of fleece cat pajamas that fit fairly comfortably. I managed to make it past drying my hair and sitting down on the bed before my mind started spinning full throttle.

Nothing was sane anymore. Reality was broken. Vampires exist and I’ve been kidnapped. I’ve been bitten twice, passed out almost three times, probably almost DIED...everything slid over me like a heavily soaked carpet. I pulled my knees to my chest, trying to keep my breath easy as my heart rate climbed. I feel like I’m going crazy, there’s no way this could all be real, right?

But it was. I knew it in the back of my mind. Dreams aren’t ever this vivid, this endless, this painful. Closing my eyes and wishing it away wasn’t going to change anything.

My heart lurched. Mom...mom would be freaking out so much by now. She would have called off work, called the police, the schools, the businesses, everyone. A pure state of panic. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I fell to my side on the bed, sobbing quietly.

I never wanted this. I never wanted to worry her. I just wanted to get a job, to help her out and make things easier for her. She tries so hard to protect me and take care of me, and now I’m missing. And I can’t ever tell her that it’s going to be okay, that I’m going to be okay.

I can’t ever see her again.