Three: My Knight In Shining Armor

SOFIA

My mother lets out a scream when she sees a scary-looking man with razor-sharp teeth and bright red eyes slam their hands on the window. He tries to break the window and get their hands on us all. He looks so monstrous.

I look at the man with fear and interest at the same time because it’s obvious these are vampires, but what kind of vampires are they? Vampires usually have silver eyes, and they don’t look like lunatics, well, sometimes they do, but not in this manner.

“For fuck sakes I’m going out.”

“No!” Mom and I say in unison. My dad, the hero, always wanting to protect his loved ones, well, mostly his beloved wife. I know I’m angry at him, but I do not want him dead right now. He’s still my dad.

“We don’t know what these things are. I mean, they are vampires,” Mom says, looking at the vampire trying to break through the window. It cracks

“We definitely know what they are, they’re rogues, they’re humans turned vampires. It’s forbidden in this kingdom to do such a thing, but apparently, some vampires still do it.” Dad explains, and I look back at the vampire who was once a human.

The vampires look pretty strong because they’re beating up the royal guards and killing them. And at this rate, we’re definitely going to be next.

Great, just great. I could have been at home shopping, or going on dates with Simon or just chilling in my room, but my parents had to force me to get married, now we’re all going to die. Should have just stayed at home, where it was safe.

Fuck!

My mom whimpers in fear. I don’t know what she’s whimpering about. We’re fucking cooked, and it’s all her fault. Well, I would rather die than get married to someone I don’t love.

“Wait a minute.” I turn around to the vampire that was banging on the window. “Where’s that vampire?” I ask because the vampire is nowhere to be found. That driver really should not have left his door unlocked. Now, the poor guy is dead.

 Next thing I know, I see someone crashing into a tree. It’s the vampire that tried to kill us; there’s a wooden stake in his stomach. Someone saved us, or someone is saving us, because I can see him killing these vampires one by one with so much ease.

Could he be a guard? I hope he is, because if that’s all the royal guard can offer, then I’m dead in that palace.

When I see it’s safe to look, I roll the window down, and I put my head out.

“Sofia, what are you doing? Put your head back in right this instant.” I ignore my mom, and I keep my head outside.

Yes, this strong, valiant man is killing the vampires, not just protecting us but also the king.  Who, I’m sure, did not see this coming. Or he set me up to kill me for not being a werewolf who can fully shift.

But I’m just assuming because I’ve been bullied for not being able to shift my whole life.

It’s obvious this man right here is skilled at what he does, and he’s a fighter. Because he hasn’t let any of these vampires touch him since he arrived. The way he punches, he kicks, the way he lets these vampires know who's the boss.

I think it’s badass.

Which is crazy because I was never a violent person. I’m more feminine than I am violent, but I had to be to survive.

I can still wear makeup and kick some ass. Maybe this guy can teach me a couple of moves. Whoever he is.

And there goes the last vampire, the knight completely removes his head from his body. I flinch at the sight because I have never seen a decapitation before. He also kills the guards who have been bitten by the vampires.

Why? Because they could get infected?

“Clear!” he says through his mask, his voice so deep.

Some of the guards are still alive, but they’re injured. The guards who weren’t bitten by vampires stand tall, and they open the door for the king. The king, who looks more annoyed than distressed, storms out of the limo.

“I should have whoever was responsible for that beheaded,” he spits out. “My in-laws, are you okay?”

I open the door to step out because I also need to stretch my legs.

“Yes, yes, that was quite the scary display,” Mom says.

“I could have helped,” my dad says, and I roll my eyes, but they land on the masked assailant, whom I catch staring at me, but he looks away.

Hmmm, something about him looks familiar. Even with his mask on, it seems like I know him from somewhere.

“We heard the rumour of some vampires turning humans into vampires to start a war, but we didn’t think it was true,” Dad says.

“Why do you think I want us to unite the kingdoms?” The king says, and that may be a valid reason, but I’m still not convinced because… WHY ME? WHY FUCKING ME? OF ALL THE BEAUTFUL WERELADIES OUT THERE WHO CAN ACTUALLYN TURN INTO FULL WOLVES WHY FUCKING ME!?

“Ah, we need the alliance more than ever then,” says Dad.

“Of course, even your king thinks so.”

Gods, I wish that king bore daughters. My life would be so much easier.

The king of the vampires looks straight at the masked man, and he sighs in disappointment, and I don’t know why, because he literally just saved us, and I think he’s badass. This man is such an arrogant prick that he not only threatens to kill people’s boyfriends, but he also doesn’t even know how to say thank you.

“Even though I keep telling him to stop doing things like this, we should all be grateful for his help,” says the king. “My in-laws. Sofia, meet my son. Prince Victor Dragomire.”

Holy-what?

The man removes his mask, and yes, it is him, the man I am going to marry, the man who saved us, is my arch nemesis. Victor.

“Good day, Mr and Mrs Santos,” he bows with a smirk on his face, and I don’t know why he’s acting polite; there’s nothing polite about him. He’s nothing but an egotistical maniac out for blood. I see no difference between him and those rogue vampires.

He grabs my mother’s hand and kisses the back of it. She blushes.

“Oh, such a gentleman, and he’s handsome too. Sofia, your future husband is really handsome.” Victor looks at me with that mischievous smile of his.

My mom is falling for this lie because, of course, she is. What a load of bullshit.

He rises up and walks away from my parents and heads toward me.

“Hello, Sofia.”

I fold my arms, and I give him a look. I cannot believe I called him a badass, and I loved his fighting skills. I take it all back.

“Victor,” I say, looking into those silver eyes of his that most vampires have. I will not look down or look elsewhere because that will mean I accepted defeat.

But he does look handsome, though. I’ll give the fucker that. He looks more handsome than he was when he was a teenager, and hotter, I guess.

Victor stands at six feet three with a muscular, powerful build typical of the royal vampire bloodline. He has light blond hair done in a neat buzzcut with a slight fade, light silver eyes, pointy ears and a round, symmetrical face. His lips are full, his jaw sharply defined.

Damn, he has gotten hotter over the years.

 But I don’t give a fuck! This man made my life a living hell back in high school, and I’m getting married to my bully, but of course, if I tell my parents that, they won’t care. They didn’t care then, they don’t care now.

“Long time no see.”

“And I honestly hoped to never see your face again.”

“You mean this handsome face?” he waggles his brows.

I scoff at his buffoonery.

“Oh, please don’t get ahead of yourself now.”

“Relax, I’m just as angry as you are on this.” he brings out his finger, and he spins it around. “I don’t like this arrangement either.”

“And you think I like it?

“I’m sure you hate it just as I do.”

“So if you hate it that much, why don’t you just tell your father to cancel this whole thing?”

“Don’t you think I tried that?” He says defensively, and I do not know why, but I think he’s lying. I really don’t know why I think he’s lying, since he hates me more than I hate him.

“Look at them, already fighting like married couples. Come along now. We’re going home, my in-laws, please join me in my limo since your driver is…” he looks at the dead driver, and then he smiles. What a diabolical man, what is there to be smiling about? One of his people just died.

“Anyway, come along, we have so much to prepare for before the wedding tomorrow.”

I stop in my tracks because I don’t believe I heard him correctly.

Tomorrow!?