Chapter 6 | Forbidden

Raya

It takes over an hour before my heartbeat returns to normal. Finally, the walls don’t feel like they’re going to close in on me and I can breathe again. Now, I can actually look around this room I was given.

I walk around slowly, taking everything in. There’s a large walk in closet that literally is big enough to fit a king’s size bed, but it’s empty. There’s a bathroom that has the largest bathtub and rainfall shower I’ve ever seen. I know that I’m inside a castle, but this just seems so… so… extravagant. I can’t imagine having this kind of money or a place of my own like this.

And this is just my room. Are all the rooms like this? Are some nicer than mine? How is it possible to just have this much wealth?

I guess when you’re a vampire and you’re practically immortal then you have the opportunity to have a ridiculous amount of wealth.

I walk into the bathroom to wash my face and I look in the mirror. My reflection is faded, the same way it always is at night. In a few hours it’ll look normal just like all the other humans.

I look around for a brush because my dirty blonde/light brown hair looks like a tornado went through it after having two different runs with vampires tonight. I finally find one and I grit my teeth as I work through the tangles. But as I look at myself in the mirror, I drop my brush when I notice something.

I move up against the mirror, so close that my breath is causing it to fog up. I open my mouth and I notice my fangs the ones that had been filed down with silver when I was only five years old, they have a small point to them. They’ve never had a point like that. My eyebrows furrow in confusion and I murmur, “Huh.”

My eyes flicker up, meeting my reflection, my blue-green eyes have a hint of red in them. I frown, what on earth is going on with me? This has never happened before.

My stomach is churning and I move out of the bathroom and go to the bed. I need to go to sleep before I throw up. I lie in the bed, it’s comfortable but… it’s too soft.

I roll on my side, hoping that it’ll help, but it doesn’t. I’ve never been in a bed like this before and it doesn’t feel right. How am I supposed to be comfortable if I feel like I’m sinking into the mattress and that I’ll be suffocated by all the pillows and the comforter?

I toss and turn, trying desperately to find a better position, but I’m unable to sleep. It’s too uncomfortable and my mind just keep repeating everything that has happened over the past few hours.

I throw a pillow over my face and scream into it, hoping that it will help drown out all of my frustrations. But then, there’s a knock on my door. I turn to the door, staring at it, wondering if I actually heard the knock.

There’s another knock.

I set the pillow down and push myself out of the too-soft bed. I walk over to the door and open it. He had been looking down, but lifts his head to meet my gaze.

It’s the cheeky one. That was… Luther. He smiles at me, his candy apple red eyes shining, but not in the same way his brother Adam’s did when he tried to compel me. No, Luther’s eyes seem to spark with mischief as he leans against the doorway and asks, “May I come in?”

I look at him skeptically, they own the home so it’s not like I have to invite him in to enter. So… is he doing this just to be nice? I don’t understand his motive.

I shrug and walk back towards the bed as I tell him, “It’s your home. You can go wherever you want.”

I sit back on the bed, trying not to groan in displeasure as I sink into the mattress. I try to sit up as I look at Luther. He followed me into the room, but he walks in slowly as he looks around the room. It’s like he’s never seen this place before.

Maybe he hasn’t. Who knows if he’s even had enough time to look at the entire castle since it’s so freaking huge?

He looks back at me and asks, “Do you need to feed?”

I frown, I’m not like him, he knows this. Why does he care enough to ask me though?

I ask with an eyebrow raised, “Excuse me?”

He says, “You’re half-vampire, right? Surely, you need blood to thrive. Just like we do… you just don’t need as much.”

Luther surprises me as he brings his wrist to his lips, I see a flash of his shiny white teeth specifically his fangs before they sink into his wrist. He holds his wrist out to me, taking one step towards me. I watch as dark blood drips down his arm, he’s a vampire, he’ll heal fast so I have to decide now if I’m going to accept this offer.

He gives me that charming smile. He’s handsome, he knows it, and he uses it to his advantage. My gut seems to scream at me, telling me not to listen to him that he is deceptive and shouldn’t be trusted.

He tells me in a soothing tone, “Come on, just one taste. It’ll make you feel so good.”

A small part of me is curious, wondering how different his blood would taste compared to the cup of blood my biological father had given me. But I listen to my gut, I force myself to shake my head as I say, “I think I’ve had enough excitement for one night. I would just like to rest.”

I lie down in the bed and turn away from him, forcing my breathing to remain steady, and not to turn around and entertain him anymore tonight.

I swear I can feel his eyes on me, I know I’ve confused him. My shoulders do not relax until I hear his footsteps as he walks away and the door shuts and his footsteps continue to leave down the hall until I can’t hear them anymore.

I finally release my breathe. A small part of me is now longing to feed, but for some reason I know that I shouldn’t feed from him. It feels… forbidden.

Until I learn more, I will not allow myself that forbidden fruit.