Draven Cruz

Adriana’s POV

"I hate this," I murmured out loud this time, taking a shaky breath before darting my eyes around the fancy bathroom.

After taking a good, long, hot bath, I decided to come out. I knew that staying in for too long would only absorb me into my own thoughts, resulting in me crying all over again. It’s funny how a weakling like myself is trying so hard to stay strong but failing miserably so far. I wore my new clothes and brushed my hair a few times when a sudden knock on the door caused me to jump.

"C-come in," I said softly.

The door opened to reveal an unfamiliar male’s face. "My name's Raymond, nice to meet you!" he greeted, bolting up to me at high speed. I gasped when I found one of his arms already wrapped around my waist, while the other had a firm grip on my wrist as he pulled it closer to his ear, causing me to inch forward.

"Wa-wait, what are you..."

"Such a cute one. What's your name?" he asked softly, completely ignoring my resistance as I tried to lean away from his face, which was only closing in more and more.

"Don't be so rude!" I heard another unfamiliar voice before Raymond was ripped from my body and pushed away.

I was only able to watch him stumble backward because the next thing I knew, my hand was taken hold of by another guy. He was now bending down on one knee before placing a soft kiss on the back of my palm, taking me by surprise as I blushed slightly.

"Edward. Pleasure to be at your service," he stated softly, parting his lips from my skin. I pulled away before taking a step back.

"Screw you; look who's flirting now," I heard Raymond snap as he stood up straight.

I studied them both, my eyes darting from one to another. Were they here to feed on me? "P-please leave," I managed to choke out. I watched them both narrow their eyes before exchanging glances.

"We're here to escort you to the dining room," Edward stated, ruffling his thick brown hair a bit. I looked up to meet his blue eyes.

Can I trust them? What if this was a trick to lure me into the feeding room...or worse, what if they were planning to rape me? That wouldn't be surprising, either.

"I’m not going," I concluded. Edward simply raised a brow as Raymond chuckled.

"Why not?" he asked softly, shooting up his eyebrows. I hung my head, fiddling with my fingers.

"Because I don't trust you," I stated truthfully. They both rolled their eyes at my "pathetic" response.

"You're the only one protesting against us. The other girls were friendly and so much sweeter," Edward grimaced, and Raymond agreed.

"Even so, please leave." I raised my voice, trying to keep up the brave act. Just seeing their faces made me want to hurl. I don't know why, but vampires made me feel sick to the very core. It's obvious that they were using their charms and good looks to lure in all humans and use them as their personal blood bags.

"Oh, come on, you're already late!" Edward complained, bolting towards me and picking me up in his arms, causing me to gasp.

"What are you doing?! Have you lost your..."

Before I could finish, my head started to spin for a few seconds before it came to a sudden halt. As soon as my eyes came into focus, I realized that I was in another room. No, not just any room; it was definitely the dining room.

"Ridiculous. She even has to be forced to attend the dinner?" I heard one of the girls' voices as Edward placed me down.

"Ignore her, Rihanna," Ferra said, holding the girl's shoulder to "calm" her down. They were now sitting at the dinner table, and my eyes widened when I realized that all the vampires were now sitting in their chairs as well, their eyes on me as I squirmed in my position uncomfortably.

You ever go up to a stage and get stage fright when you see a bunch of people staring at you? Yeah, well, this was a million times worse.

"Go sit," I heard Draven's voice. I gasped before turning to face him. He walked past me and sat at the very end of the table before several butlers walked in, holding plates of food and bottles of wine. With a pounding heart, I rushed to take the remaining seat, which, "luckily" for me, was right next to Draven.

The dinner began shortly, and everyone was now chatting and getting to "know" each other while I just stared at my plate, my eyes glued to the food the entire time.

"Why's she being so quiet?" I heard a male voice. Before long, all attention was drawn towards me again, making me shrink in my seat. Why can't they just ignore my existence and leave me alone, just for tonight?

"Who knows," I heard Draven's voice say. I glanced at him, knowing that he didn't like to be ignored or disrespected. I should at least acknowledge his existence. He was now resting his elbow on the table, his chin placed on his palms lazily while the other hand rested on the table. His gaze was firmly set on my face, and I gulped softly before averting my eyes.

"She's so boring!" I heard another girl whine. Some of the males chuckled while the rest remained silent, studying my every movement.

"Irene, leave it. She doesn't even find it in her heart to apologize for being disrespectful and ungrateful," I heard Ferra sneer boldly.

I remained silent before pressing my lips together into a thin line. "I’m sorry," I managed to choke out. The males cooed at my sudden words.

"Well, isn't that lovely? It talks," Draven taunted. I bit my bottom lip, tears streaming in my eyes as the males chuckled while the girls giggled at his joke.

"She's just shy," I heard Raymond say.

*I'm not shy, I'm scared!* my inner voice shot back at him.

"She'll get used to it," Tyrell agreed, tilting his head to the side before grinning at me.

*I don't want to get used to it!* my thoughts retorted.

"Yeah, she'll come to adore and love us soon!" another male voice said in an ignorant tone, which pricked my nerves more than it should.

*I hate you all, and that's never going to change!* I screamed in my head, blinking away the tears and standing up from my position. "I’m done," I said.

I was about to leave when Draven's voice caused me to freeze. "And exactly who gave you permission to leave?" he demanded. I nibbled on my bottom lip before turning to look at him. His blue eyes penetrated into my brown ones as I stood silently.

"That's what I fucking thought," he said softly as I sat back down. Everyone cleared their throats before continuing their conversation.

"My parents..." I started, looking at Draven. He stopped to take a sip of his wine. "May I please talk to them?" I asked softly. He took another sip, painfully slow.

"No," he stated bluntly, not even bothering to look at me. "They don't want to talk to you, anyways," he barely muttered under his breath.

I stared at him in shock. "That's not true," I protested, tears welling in my eyes again as I tried to keep myself together. I was literally a ticking bomb tonight, and he was honestly pushing all my buttons.

"Really?" he asked, sarcasm clearly evident in his voice as he placed his hands on the table before leaning forward. "Because they were begging me to make sure you were never able to contact them ever again," he finished with a soft, cruel chuckle.

Everyone else joined him, causing anger to bubble up inside me. "That's not true! You're lying!" I argued, standing up from my seat.

He simply chuckled again before rubbing his temple, a sadistic smirk appearing on his lips. "But then again, even parents wouldn't want to keep a pathetic crybaby in the house to..."

Before he could finish, my hands involuntarily grabbed the nearest glass of water before throwing it in his face. The water splashed all over his shirt and face. Gasps filled the room and my hands immediately started to tremble when I realized what I had just done.

"What the fuck was that for?!" he yelled, slamming his hands on the table and shooting up from his seat.

I looked up to meet his glare. "You...you went too far," I barely choked out, trying to defend my actions. By now, everyone remained silent, not even bothering to help me out.

"You're on a fucking roll tonight, aren't you, doll-face?" he asked, his eyes raging with anger as he held the empty glass that I was still holding as well. "Perhaps you're forgetting your fucking place!" he spat with venom in his voice as I felt the intensity of his grip on the glass getting stronger.