All Chapters of Dark Bargain: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

1. The matter

How did I get here? That’s a good question. One I have been asking myself for the last half an hour or so. How did I get here indeed, in this dump? Well, it wasn’t a dump per se. On the contrary, it was majestic and if I wasn’t here against my will I might have enjoyed the view that was bestowed on me.The floors were of black marble, the chandeliers were grand and sparkled even in the dim light, and the curtains in a dark red were draped beautifully from the ceiling to the floor framing the long and narrow windows. Huge, dramatic classical paintings in big golden frames hung on the walls, portraying people I did not know of.Probably some lord of a long time ago, I thought.I couldn’t stop my body from shivering as I stood in the middle of a ballroom in front of what it seemed to be a throne. It was a weird setting. Why would anyone have this in their home? I kept thinking as I couldn’t stop my body from moving. I didn’t know if my shivering was caused by nerves, fear or just the pla

Last Updated : 2024-05-02

2. The deal

I just stood there gawking at the scene in front of me. “Tell me human, what’s your name?” Dimitri asked in a low tone.My father struggled as he spoke, “C-Colin I-I-Irving”Dimitri furrowed his eyebrows, “Don’t tell me you are the son of David Irving.” My father frantically nodded his head, hoping a positive answer might be an escape out of Dimitri’s grip, only it wasn’t. If anything, it seemed Dimitri tightened his grip even further.“You really are some low-life, aren’t you Colin?”My father ignored him as he was clawing at the Lord’s hands. His face had now a bright red color, his eyes bulging out of their sockets. I didn’t feel much empathy, watching how my father struggled to live, gasping for air. This was his own fault.“Answer me! Aren’t you Colin?”He finally chocked out after a couple of seconds, “Y-Yes, m-my lord. I-I am a l-l-low life.”This seemed to please Dimitri enough to let my father go, not so gently, however. My father fell down, and hard. The smack of his fall ec

Last Updated : 2024-05-04

3. How did I get here?

How I ended up in a beautiful manor, started down by a lord (of what I didn’t know) with questionable features while fighting for my life, I didn’t know. Or well, I only partially knew.My answer starts with my grandfather, David Irving. He had a business empire and had some blue blood left in him, gifted by his mother who was related to some duke a while ago. Therefore making his standing in the world of the rich and noble both strong. His empire stretched over the globe and David was highly successful.From his first marriage, he obtained only one child, a girl called Mary. An unoriginal name if you ask me, but David’s wife was highly religious and wanted nothing more than to name her daughter after one of the most famous figures in the origin story of Christianity. Unfortunately so for David, as he desperately wanted a son to hand over the business to – he was a conservative man.After years of trying to conceive another child, it seemed David’s wife wasn’t able to gift him any mor

Last Updated : 2024-05-04

4. Dreamer

I was never a dreamer. As I child I was happy with just my mother. She made my world with her silly little jokes and love for baking, even if we didn’t have the money for supplies. She would make something up. It didn’t always work and we would spit out whatever concoction she had made. But still, my mother was everything to me.With her at my side, it didn’t matter where I would end up as long as I would go back into her arms. I would enjoy the tickling of her long, red hair falling around me, how her fruity perfume hit my nose, and her soft humming of songs I didn’t know.When adults would ask me ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I would shrug and give them no answer.This changed when my mother told me the stone-cold truth about who I really was, a daughter of a wealthy and noble businessman. Five minutes after my father’s staff came and picked me up. Literally picked me up. I didn’t want to leave my mother. I was happy with her.I saw how my own mother turned her back to

Last Updated : 2024-05-07

5. My Lord

The thing I noticed as I stood there in that sitting room, was the absence of the noise of rain. It had cleared up it seemed as if only the moon was to be seen. I saw in the distance the last few clouds drifting away when I heard a snap.My eyes shot right back at the person in front of me. I had no idea why my mind got distracted by something so silly as the weather. Maybe because he was silent for a while.“I appreciate it when my pet only focuses on her master, only her master. Do you understand, pet?” Dimitri repeated.My eyes snapped to his figure. He looked refreshed after I saw him earlier this evening. His hair was styled back, and his slight stubble was gone. He wore a three-piece set suit in a dark grey color with a black dress shirt under it with a matching black tie. It was clear to me that there was a preference for dark colors in this household.Now in front of me and better clothed his beauty became only more prominent. I couldn’t stop staring as I never had seen such a

Last Updated : 2024-05-08

6. Company

I sat uncomfortably on my knees next to Dimitri’s armchair. We had now moved to another sitting room, this one bigger and more informal. Personal items were on display as more electronics.A big flatscreen hung on the wall in front of me, and playing on it was some old movie. Nobody was watching, however. I couldn’t because Dimitri forbade me and the others were too busy talking amongst themselves.He had interesting company. Quite eccentric. I noticed quickly they were all vampires as well, their fangs and odd-colored eyes gave it away. There were six in total, Dimitri included. As I was kneeling there on the ground while listening to these strangers I finally realized what I got myself into and to say my nerves and anxiety were growing was an understatement.The fact alone that I was now involved with the mafia was bonkers, let alone a supernatural one. Fear consumed me, making me stiff and not moving from my position, how uncomfortable it was, I stayed put.I was a fucking angel fo

Last Updated : 2024-05-13

7. Others

The pain I felt in my body by the endless kneeling I had to do that evening was almost worse than being pushed down the stairs. My half-sisters, Clair and Clara (how horrible to name your children with such similarity), weren’t too thrilled when I entered the Irving household.They were twins and one unit against the world, so to share the house with someone else was something hard to register for them. This resulted in bullying me whenever the chance arose. I often didn’t mind them as I hid away in the attic, but one time, when I was mere months away from my mother and present in that cold home (and didn’t know of the dangers the two demons caused), they decided to try to get rid of me by pushing me down the stairs.I fell rather unfortunately leaving me with a concussion, a broken leg, and several bruises. I felt sore for weeks, but that was nothing compared to how my knees felt as I heard Moira keep asking questions about how idiotic and pathetic my father was.All of a sudden, eve

Last Updated : 2024-05-17

8. Ranks

“Tell me, what’s your name?” One of the women asked.“I-It’s Ravenna.”“And whose pet are you, Ravenna?” The other one asked.“Dimitri’s,” I said without hesitation, intimidated by them and not daring to lie. But once his name left my lips, it felt like a mistake. Something the maid warned me about.The woman with her soft voice gasped as she put her hand over her mouth. “You never call your master by just his name. Never.”“Don’t be dramatic, Ivy,” The other woman chided. She then turned to me, “It’s not wise to call your master by just their name, these walls have ears and one of the gravest rules to break is to call them by just their name.”She put a strand of hair behind my ear. “You look exhausted, lay down with us.”I couldn’t ignore or decline as she pulled me by my arm and lay my head in her lap, softly caressing my hair and cheeks.Never was I a person who enjoyed physical contact, not even from my biological mother. We hugged at times, but she always respected my need for s

Last Updated : 2024-05-17

9. Marked

Pain. Pain was all I felt.I couldn’t even feel the steel grip of Darius on my body to keep me from struggling against Dimitri. I had no idea where I got the energy or strength to fight against them, but I bet it was the primal instinct deep down in me that fought to get away from the source that gave me such intense pain.It was seething hot, as if hot lava was poured down my body. My whole body burned from the inside out. I was screaming, begging, and crying for them to stop.Then, finally, Darius loosened his grip and Dimitri retrieved his fangs from my neck, licking his lips while doing so.My legs couldn’t carry the weight of my limp body and I fell onto my knees. Tears kept pouring from my eyes as I just sat there, a blubbering mess.“What did you do to me?” I asked when I finally found the strength to speak.Dimitri took a swig of his drink before answering, “I marked you as my property.” His tone was cool, not being swayed by my distress.“Property?” I asked in disbelief.“The

Last Updated : 2024-06-01

10. Training

Two maids were busy cleaning up after the scene in the throne room while Dimitri and Darius were standing near the window whispering among themselves.My eyes couldn’t leave the body, or the spot where it once was. I’d never seen a dead body, let alone witnessed someone being killed. The most terrifying part was that it didn’t seem to bother Dimitri nor Darius. They acted like they did before, not as if a life was just taken.I started wondering who these people really are and what it meant to live under the roof of someone who is both a vampire and a mafia lord. A vampire was monstrous enough to warn anyone of any danger, a mafia don too, but put the two together and you got someone lethal.I surely didn’t think this through. The pain in my neck was the prime example of that. When I made the agreement I just thought I had to either do chores – which I was used to do – or had to look pretty and stay at his side from time to time. I didn’t expect this.The hate I felt for my father was

Last Updated : 2024-06-02

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