Aric sat on a high tree branch at the edge of the arena, observing the others as they participated in the hunt by locating and killing the prey one after another.
A fool who thought hiding in the cages would trick the hunters was the first to be caught and killed. This was a very expensive mistake.Not much time had passed when the second of the poisoned prey was finally brought down. She was fixated on the moonlight reflecting off the ice as it glistened on pine needles covered in frost.The prey was brought down one at a time. Some were executed swiftly, and their blood was drunk on the spot. Others were restrained, branded, and fitted with collars before being led out of the woods by their new masters.Aric watched everything going on with a visceral revulsion, and he detested that others of his type enjoyed participating in the blood sport.His attention was drawn to some movement along the boundary fence. When he got a better look, he noticed that one of the female prey was grabbing handfuls of pine needles from the lower branches of a tree and frantically rubbing them against herself.He focused all of his attention on her since he found her intriguing. She was stunning, even though she was a touch of pasty. After covering her face and exposed skin with dirt, he observed as she started digging holes in the earth.After hearing the noises of a struggle, he turned his attention towards it and saw a target being captured not too far away from the location where the female was hiding.Aric was taken aback when he looked back and realized he had been unable to locate her.After making a very tiny movement, he was finally able to see her. She was lying in the hole she had dug, and the earth had completely covered her body.He thought with a smirk playing at the corners of his lips that she did an excellent job of disguising herself.If she was clever and could hold out for another half an hour, she would be rewarded with her freedom and a ticket to the free zone.As he kept an eye on things, he noticed Moric moving closer to the spot where the prey was hiding.While muttering an expletive, he tore a limb from the tree he was huddled in and hurled it in the opposite direction of where the woman was hiding.Moric and the prey were both able to hear the disturbance.Unfortunately for Moric, the victim let out a startled gasp, which brought his attention back to her as soon as he turned his head toward the sound.Aric bolted from his cover and dashed toward where she was hiding before he could register what he had just done.In what seemed like a blink of an eye, he was standing next to her, his hand wrapped around her wrist.After yanking her away from the ground, she was pulled off it with her legs flailing around violently."Mine," he said in Moric's direction, who had just discovered where she had been hiding."The more experienced vampire smiled broadly and addressed the younger one, "My lord, you have secured the final prey." Good\sjob!!"Moric gave Aric a pat on the back before looking between himself and the prey suspended in the air.He asked the question in a humorous tone, "Do you plan to kill her now?""Or do you intend to take her with you and keep her as a slave?"As Aric exhaled, he spoke the word "a pet" and immediately felt a knot form in the base of his throat as soon as the words left his mouth.The question is, "Do you have a collar?" Moric questioned while gazing at the woman with eyes filled with lust.Aric's response was "No," after which he helped the girl who was still struggling to sit down.The more experienced vampire asked while he held up the leather neckband and said, "May I offer you mine?"Aric mumbled a fake expression of gratitude before grabbing the item and turning to face the prey, who was standing as still as death. With his other hand, he continued to exert a firm iron grip on the prey's arm.As he turned to face her, he let go of her, then fastened the collar so that it was snug around her neck.Leaning in and acting as though they were checking the fit, Aric spoke to her in a whisper that was just audible to her and no one else.He sincerely apologized and added, "I'm sorry."I watched the vampire approach me, keeping my green eyes tightly shut and listening intently. As he moved, I could feel the force of his heavy tread cutting into the dirt.I worked hard to control my breathing and heartbeat, but I was frustrated that I couldn't burrow any further into the dirt. As things stood, all a vampire needed to do to identify me was staring at me from the appropriate perspective.When I heard the loud crash of something heavy through the trees above me, I didn't intend to make a sound, but I accidentally let out a gasp of surprise.I tried to slow down my suddenly quick breathing by covering my mouth with the dirt-covered hand I was holding, but the panic grew stronger.I was very certain that the vampire could hear my heart throbbing in my chest.After taking a chance and peeking over the corner, I noticed the shadow of the hunter approaching me.Another hunter suddenly materialized out of thin air and pulled me out of my hiding place by one arm. He lifted me
Healing Aric observed as the human's face became white in response to what he said.He ought to have been more mindful that she was not accustomed to following instructions, but this was a skill that she would need to acquire rapidly.He reiterated, pointing to the chair, "I said sit down and take off your top," but she did not budge from where she was sitting.As she moved to carry out his directions, she had a slight quiver in her bottom lip, and one of her shoulders hung lower than the other.While seated, she began a futile attempt to pull her shirt up over her head, gritting her teeth and biting her lip as she strained to move her damaged arm.Aric rushed to her aid after assessing the level of suffering she was experiencing, pleading with her to move quickly.Even though he could see the terror written all over her face as he approached, he didn't give a damn. Because time was of the essence, he had to determine the extent of her wounds as quickly as possible.He assisted her wi
As the vampire picked me off the ground and carried me into the bathroom with one arm over my back and the other around my knees, I tried to stifle the rising panic washing over me.It didn't even look like he was using much effort to carry me, which was very strange."Flip the switch," the vampire said while pointing his head in the direction of a switch that was gold-plated.To comply with what I was told, I had to immediately shut my eyes to protect them from the brilliance that had begun to flood the room. In reality, the light illuminated both of the rooms. It appeared as though the bathroom had a closet that was connected to it and that closet was only partly stocked with clothes.Every square centimeter of the side of the bathroom was covered in gold or marble that had been polished. It was so huge that even the bathtub could accommodate three to four people.My master walked across the room and positioned me in front of a shower with glass walls before I could see much more of
Aric had almost entirely forgotten about his new pet until he heard an unusual chattering sound. At that moment, he was drying himself off.Confused, he searched until he discovered his pet standing by herself in the shower, nude and shivering. She was attempting to rub some warmth into her arms while she stood dripping with water, her teeth chattering behind blue lips.Aric tucked his towel around his waist and walked to a cabinet across the room as he rolled his eyes and said under his breath about people's utter and complete idiocy. He wondered what he was going to do with a pet.Since he had just gotten rid of his previous pet, he had no desire or need for another animal companion.After pulling open one of the cabinet doors, he reached inside, grabbed a beautiful new towel, and then threw it to her before turning.He spat at her, "Dry yourself off before you catch a cold," as he felt the dawn approaching and realized that he was losing his strength. "The last thing I need is for
As I stood there taking in the sights of my new house, tears streamed freely down my cheeks. It was futile to continue hiding them now that it was established that I was being held captive.I had been so close to freedom, just moments away from it, but then I made one dumb mistake, and my opportunity was lost.My enclosure was spacious enough to stand up inside it without my head coming close to colliding with the bars positioned above me, but, given that I was barely five feet tall, this did not say very much.When I extended my arms in one direction, I could almost touch the bars, while the other direction afforded twice as much space.Turning, I stood there and watched as my new master staggered towards the bed like a drunk, barely making it there before lying motionless on top of the covers.My heart was trying to open up to worry, but I kept it from entering by repressing it. To me, it didn't matter if the vampire lived or died. It wasn't my fault unless you count the following:
Aric woke up with the stench of blood left to dry, itching at the tip of his nose.He blinked his eyes to clear the sleep from them and then glanced around for the source of the odor, attempting to recall whether or not he had left a cup of blood out for an excessive amount of time.Aric's eyes came to rest on the cage, and in an instant, his memories of the hunt came flooding back. This caused him to sit straight upright.As he got a closer look, he noticed that the cage was in a state of disorder, that the bed had been destroyed, that the mattress had been ripped up, and that there was a smell of blood everywhere.He sprang from the bed and hurried to the cage, where he quickly unbolted the door and kicked a piece of blood-stained wood out of the way.His companion animal was found snuggled up against the bars on the opposite side of the enclosure, blood and mattress stuffing caked all over her legs and hands.Aric was taken aback when she suddenly jerked her head up and stared inte
When Aric witnessed the magnitude of the harm that she had caused to her hand while attempting to assist him, he couldn't help but feel awful for her.While resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together, he sat at his coffee table.Aric simply sighed and continued to look at her in silence since he was at a loss for words.He scrutinized her face, taking note of the delicate scattering of freckles on her nose and cheeks, the fullness of her lips, despite their dryness, and the flecks of gold in the iris' of her terror-filled eyes with the red rims."Again releasing a heavy sigh, he said, "Well, I guess we should start with the basics." My name is Aric, with an "A" at the beginning. What do you have?"She spoke gently, scarcely detectable even to his vampire hearing, and whispered, "Liberty, Liberty Hope, but my mum names me Bertie." Her voice was barely heard even to him."Hope for Liberty?" Aric questioned with a smirk on his face, clearly thinking the option to be
I couldn't believe someone had just brought an entire mountain of food for me.In addition to the hot chocolate, there were items that I could identify, such as fried eggs, thick slices of white bread with REAL butter, sausage links, cinnamon rolls topped with frosting, bacon, and other things.Was Aric anticipating that I would finish all of this food?As I looked between him and the mountain of food in front of me, I was trying to think of a way to tell him that there was no way I could eat even half of what was in front of me, let alone the whole thing, when he let out a hearty laugh. As I looked between him and the mountain of food, I was trying to think of a way to tell him that there was no way that.He laughed as he drank from the mug of... blood he had in front of him and told her, "You don't have to consume it all." "Since you wouldn't tell me what your preferences were, I requested that they deliver you a sample of everything that had been cooked that morning."After you've