~6-The Second Encounter~

~Rhett~

He is a monster; I'm aware. However, I couldn't let go of his touch. His hands romance my waist, pulling me closer into his embrace. As warm as it feigns, a sinister sensation creeps within. 

From the shadows, he speaks my name. "Rhett." His breath is freezing against my skin, yet I feel cozy. And then, he turns me around to face him. And I see him for who and what he really is. A monster. A reckoning danger. A lethal malignant beast. 

Like every other time, I did the only thing I could. I screamed!

I wake up with a scream, my frightening dream worsening each day. My voice today is coarse and weak unlike yesterday and the day before. I can feel my weaknesses deep inside my bones. 

I really don't think I can do this anymore. Three days since I've been locked in this cold room. First, my anger kept me going but as time goes on, my chest hurts and my stomach twist from the hormones. Even now, I don't feel angry anymore. At least, that's what I think. 

I really just want to be out of here. Everything is unaccommodating. The quiet; dirty floor; inability to see sunrise or the moon is making me go crazy. Valois would come sometimes against his Master's wishes—against King Kael's order not to give me food or shelter. 

As much as I detest Valois with every fiber of my being, his not-so-friendly hospitality is what keeps me alive. My head faces downwards, making my hair cover my sight but when my ears pick up the sound of a distant door opening, I gasp and crawl towards the iron bar. 

My face drops as soon as I see King Kael. He notices too, but he shows no emotion. Instead, he collects a chair nearby, brings it opposite to me, from the other side, and sits with one leg crossed over the other. 

My brows furrow as my eyes contract in fury. How dare he face me after three days of locking me away? Suddenly, all the memories start flushing back into my head and it hurts. I remember Reynolds, sound and fresh, as though it just happened. 

King Kael dresses simple unlike our first encounter. My heart is leaping, scared of what will happen in this second encounter, but what thing I'm sure of is that, I hate him. I loathe him with everything I hold dear. I swear!

His white linen shirt sits roughly on his body, creased from his sitting position where he has a royal blue pants on and flat sandal. He almost passes for a normal human. Hell, he looks so normal. 

He clears his throat, slowly raising his gaze at me like he's building up the suspense. "The life of a vampire is more torturous than you think. To be immortal comes with an unending pain. Every being makes mistakes and they must live it. When you don't die, you continue to live with it. Yes, you can erase—lock away—parts of your memories, but deep within, your subconscious knows. It's aware."

He takes a sharp pause before he continues, leading me down a path I'm quizzical of. "I was very young when I was bit. I never served my sire, but I did always feel him. He was alive in the shadows, almost like if he only reached out, he would touch me. It was a constant battle, but I had a sister I loved dearly. My begotten sibling. The only family I would die for. She was my all, and she was a human. I couldn't transition. I resisted the urge for seven years. As though that wasn't enough, as though all the pain I had struggled wasn't enough, she died in my arms. She was my last straw. She was my anchor. She held my ship from its wreckage. Oh, she kept me from sinking. But that resistance found a strong support the moment she died. I drank her blood, and I became the strongest vampire king yet. I built the Fifth Throne, hording part of Marcellus's territory. My actions threatened his throne, even though I hadn't meant it. You can say it's why he hates me strongly."

He sits back on the chair, making the recliner creak a bit. "Now as a black in 1823, owned by a master, having a black female sister, bitten by a monster, having her killed by those I trust, you must see why I hate a lot of things. My suffering was consistent and persistent."

His tone becomes even colder as he continues. "Whites. Faggots. Humans generally. Hunters. Witches. Even Vampires. I hate everything. I can never have peace or happiness." I flinch at his internalised homophobia. Its range has no limit. 

That makes me question how then Valois is close to him but it's not like I'll actually ask.

He takes a pause again, and this time around, for some reason, I can tell he wants me to say something, and so I did. "Why are you telling me this?"

A little smirk emits. "Of course, I want you to know I'm not the kind you want to cross. I'll ask this one more time: what were you doing in the woods? Are you a spy?"

Dumbass. I grit my teeth but I know I must answer. "I'm not a spy. I want out. Let me out of here. I just want to live my life as a college student."

But clearly, that's now impossible, I suppose. 

"Reynolds trusted you right from onset. He wanted to be close to you. There must be something he saw in you that I must know." He says, and like an alarm going off, a thought drops in my mind. 

I can't escape this. He won't let me go. I know that now. Keeping me here, seeing me suffer. That's what gives him power. It's what gives him authority but I won't allow that. Not anymore. Two can play this game.

I raise my gaze, locking it with his. "And that's one of the reason why you killed him. You knew Reynolds was attracted to me. Perhaps he even loved me but you couldn't stand it." 

"Oh, my...I like this turn of the wheel." Sarcastic, he remarks and sits back again, wrapping his arms.

"It is why King Marcellus wanted me dead. He knew I was special to you. You couldn't kill me. You just can't do it. I make you feel something you like but which you also can't withstand to face, and so you lock me away. I get it now. You're not just cruel but you're sick too." Shit. That pissed him off. He stands up and nears the bar. 

Regardless, I maintain my composure. Deep down, I'm crumbling down like a skyscraper hit by an earthquake. I swallow a loud lump and stand up too. 

"You're petite, feeble, and gay. All shades of wrong, and I'll crush you, Rhett." His tone is vile.

Inside his eyes, there's a sight of storm—a raging one. It wants to swallow me into its dark deep blue body, but I strike against it. Taking a heavy breath, I unbuckle my pants. I keep my gaze fixated, watching as King Kael's shift to my below. Then, I pick my tattered shirt up. My less-exotic body is out for display then I turn around, allowing him to take a long glance at my ass. 

King Kael's body stiffen, his jaw clenching as his nails dig into his thighs. He places an undivided attention on my round butt, unable to shift his gaze away. And he seems like he's choking on what to say. 

Seconds later, his eyes still aren't back to meet mine and then I break the silence. "Your boner says otherwise, King Kael. I'm a chick with sharp features, full pink lips, sexy, snatched body, small waist, and I'm that dude you want riding you to cloud nine all night!" I didn't stop there. I added. "I'm that proud gay man you're too ashamed to become, and I see how you want to rip through my clothes and fuck me, but guess what? I'll never allow your homophobic ass."

My words sound scripted but when you're in my situation, you'll use anything to gain back the power an oppressor like himself once snatched from you. 

King Kael is stunned, battling as he steps back. Dumfounded, I add to the wound. "And if your sister were here—if she was the kind of human I imagine her to be—she would utterly be disappointed and irked by what her brother has..." He didn't let me finish. No, in a flash, he's yanked the bar open and in a canter, he has pinned me against the wall, pressing his cold body against my soft one.

"You'll be quiet this instant."

"A leech will never shun me." I yell back but it's muffled because he's pressing his palm harshly against my neck. My face feels like it would be mashed into the wall. It's gradually starting to hurt. 

"Then you'll meet your end." His body presses even more against me, his boner hard against the split of my ass. I'm not crazy, but believe me: for a brief moment, I wanted more. I wanted more of the bizzare and horrible situation. 

I want to dig my nails beneath his skin even more so I add. "I can feel your dick. Do you want to fuck me? Is that it? I'm sure you wouldn't even ask for my approval, will you? You'll probably rape me..." Precisely, I'm disgusted at myself for saying that but whatever to make his monster feel disgusted of himself. 

"I'll never do such a thing. I'll never take advantage..." He releases me instantly and takes a step back. I turn to face him with a slightly bruised face. My left cheek is brutally reddened, and it burns badly. 

When I look into his orbs again, I see the storm is less wavy as before. It's as though now he's fighting with unhealed memories. His gaze is fixated to the ground and he mutters something to himself. 

But maybe this is my chance—to escape. Without thinking twice, I hit him on the face. "Ha! You think that would do something, didn't you?"

"Actually, you're an interesting topic, King Kael, and I seem to know just what weakens you..." Looking down at his semi-hard cock, I kick him with as much muscle as I can muster and trust me, it's a lot. As expected, he drops to the ground, in great pain, moaning as he tries to reach out to stop me. 

I'm escaping, almost at the door when something picks my collar and throws me back into the cage. "Get your pants back on this instant!" 

Shit! Fuck his fast healing and speed!

"I'll come back for you, sharp mouth and when I do, you're a dead man." 

Fuck, he wo

n't hold back this time around. There's no mercy in the grim that clouds his bloodshot eyes.